What if you could find a way to make money off other people's trash? On top of that, you'd be helping the environment, turning that trash, in this case plastic agricultural film, into anything from outdoor decks to plastic furniture. Even better, in the midst of a recession, the company becomes an oasis of employment and economic development.

Posted by Kim Crockett, Free Market Institute

What if you could find a way to make money off other people's trash? On top of that, you'd be helping the environment, turning that trash, in this case plastic agricultural film, into anything from outdoor decks to plastic furniture. Even better, in the midst of a recession, the company becomes an oasis of employment and economic development.
Genesis Poly Recycling was supposed to do all of that. Taking old silage bags and hay wraps and turning them into plastic pellets to be sold to other companies. But it never got off the ground, and is currently bankrupt... but not before taking millions of dollars in taxpayer money.
Two years ago, Genesis Poly CEO Dan Hauschild said, "We'll be creating quite a few jobs. 30 to 40 right away and in a couple years be around 120... and then there's more opportunity to expand we'll go way beyond that in the next five years."
Hearing those numbers, Mankato was happy to oblige. The city pulled out plenty of stops... acting as an intermediary of sorts, by purchasing the property at 480 North Industrial Road for $850,000, money acquired through a grant with the state's Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The old Spartech site would be rented out to Genesis Poly. Along with the site purchase, Mankato lent Genesis Poly half a million dollars for equipment.

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