TUSCOLA, Ill. (WCIA) — New life could be coming to a former industrial site in Central Illinois. 

The China-based company, Fufeng USA Inc., is looking to build a $750 million corn wet-milling plant somewhere in the country, and Tuscola is one of their options. Their nationwide search includes the site of the former LyondellBasell plant that closed three years ago. 

Brian Moody, Douglas County Economic Development Corp. executive director, said Tuscola could see a huge economic impact if selected by the company. 

He said 800 to 1,000 construction workers would be needed to build the project. Another 240 would be employed on site.

The corn wet-milling plant would grind corn and ferment it into different components. The amino acids from that process could be sold for animal feed. 

Moody said the plant could help farmers expand their business.

“Agriculture is our top business in the area, so this would provide farmers with another market for their grain,” Moody said. “One of the interesting things about it is that it’s a wet-milling operation so they’re not as sensitive to dryness levels, which is often a thing farmers have to deal with.”

Moody said the plant would purchase about 25 million bushels of corn annually. That’s about 15% of the production in Douglas County and surrounding areas.

Fufeng is still in the process of selecting a site. Moody expects that they will make their final decision in the spring, and he said construction of the plant would take about three years.