Milan is SOooo Cool

Yesterday I spent over an hour talking to a group of entrepreneurs in Milan who have started a new business and will bring about 20 jobs to the City. Over at Milan Biodiesel on Redman, just north of Wabash sit two unassuming buildings next to the railroad. I thought I'd pulled into the wrong place but was greeted by Bob Karpiuk, one of the partners who welcomed me warmly. He and his crew have pumped over a million bucks into the business which converts used restaurant grease into useful fuel that powers buses, trucks and any vehicle that runs on diesel. They buy this grease (filter out the french fry bits and chicken nugget crumbs), clean it, test it, mix it, test it, test it some more then sell it to folks like the AA Transit Authority to power their fleet. Very cool. They are not using corn and virgin oils, so farmers need not worry that the business is contributing to the ethanol/crop price debate.

What a pleasure meeting these guys. John Bolz, Gary Graves and Chris Moellers (representing investor, Cretwood Energy) were there too. Mayor Kym Muckler spent the morning with us, asking questions (her habits learned as a reporter at the News-Leader kicked in) and giving them props for bringing good, clean business to Milan. I'm working on a story that will run in the next few weeks. Check it out. Oh yeah, they are taking resumes for production workers and a plant manager- fax your resume to 734-439-4057. Please please don't stop by yet, they say, just fax a resume with your experience.