When POET Bioprocessing – Glenville Plant Manager Josh Karaus was in college, he planned to be a high school chemistry teacher. But his career goals changed after an internship at an oil refinery, where he was introduced to the satisfaction of production chemistry, or “using science to make stuff.”
So when Karaus graduated from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls 20 years ago, he applied for a job posting his grandma had seen. His journey at POET – Glenville began, where
he initially worked as a quality manager for 10 years before being promoted to plant manager in 2014.
Karaus said his early aspirations as a chemistry teacher are still a part of his everyday job. “Every day is a school day at POET. We’re always teaching and learning something,” Karaus said.
That mindset is reflected across all POET Bioprocessing – Glenville’s team members and applies both inside and outside the plant’s walls. From an internal culture of growth and development to external efforts to demystify the bioethanol sector, the plant gets high marks for helping to make its team members, communities, and the entire POET enterprise better each day.
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Russ Germann meets with team members Josh Karaus and Mike Cox.
Creating A+ opportunities for team members
Opened in 1999 in the far southeastern corner of Minnesota, POET Bioprocessing – Glenville is the fourth oldest of the 34 plants that POET operates. It has been expanded and updated over the years and currently employs 44 experienced, efficient team members who exemplify POET’s philosophy of developing talent and promoting from within.
“Over 60 percent of our team members have more than five years of experience, and a lot of people have 10, 12, or 20 years of experience,” said General Manager Russ Germann. Germann joined POET two years ago after a long career in both the petroleum and asphalt industries. “Since I’ve been here, we’ve promoted team members seven different times with new roles and new responsibilities. A couple of them have taken bigger roles at neighboring POET plants. That’s really unique in my career compared to other companies I’ve worked for.”
Shift Supervisor Mike Cox is a perfect example of a team member seizing new opportunities. In nine years, he’s moved from a night operator to night maintenance to day operator and finally day shift supervisor. Cox said the ‘every day is a school day’ mindset has been instrumental in advancing his career. “The more you apply yourself, the more your opportunities become immeasurable,” Cox said. Now, Cox focuses on teaching others. “When someone asks you a question, and you’re able to advise or teach them, you can’t put a price tag on that. It’s one of the best feelings.”
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Russ Germann, Josh Karaus, and Mike Cox work in POET Bioprocessing –Glenville facility.
Raising awareness in the community
The teaching mentality extends beyond team members and into the Glenville and nearby Albert Lea, Minnesota communities as well.
Many community members “know that POET is in Glenville but don’t always completely understand what we do,” Germann said, so educating the public is a rewarding endeavor. POET leaders enjoy giving tours to local Chamber of Commerce members who are part of the Chamber’s leadership program. “Thirty individuals visit, and we give them a tour of the plant. Most of them had no clue what we do and how we do it, even those who grew up in the area. It’s really neat when we get to educate them,” Germann said. School kids also tour frequently. “We teach them a little about how we turn corn into animal feed and fuel for vehicles and carbonation for their soda pop.”
POET – Glenville purchases 15 million bushels of corn from local farmers each year. The plant’s annual production capacity is 48 million gallons of bioethanol, 65,000 tons of distillers grain, and 7,000 tons of corn oil used for biodiesel. One unique product is the 76,000 tons of renewable carbon dioxide (bioCO2) it generates annually.
“Our plant was one of the first to have a carbon dioxide production facility,” explained Karaus. “We capture the carbon dioxide during fermentation, clean it up, make it cold, and sell it for beverage carbonation or food processing,” Karaus said. “We call it bioCO2 because unlike CO2 made from a natural gas or oil refinery, ours is made renewably.” About 260 to 280 tons of bioCO2 leaves the plant on about 12 refrigerated trucks per day. “We’ve been doing this since 2001, and to this day, POET is still adding this ability to its other plants.”
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Pride in POET’s impact — no lesson required!
One thing that doesn’t need to be taught at POET Bioprocessing – Glenville is pride in the plant’s impact. “There are so many benefits to being in the bioethanol sector because what we do touches everyone in the area, whether we’re buying their corn, helping them with lower prices at the gas pump, or providing the carbonation in the beverages they drink. And it’s all getting used locally,” said Germann.
In addition, POET Bioprocessing – Glenville is committed to supporting its local communities both financially and with volunteer work. In the past year, the plant has given out more than $18,000 in grants to nine programs benefiting kids, firefighters, veterans, and more. “We helped our local Glenville and Emmons fire departments with some needed equipment and also helped a local garden club to beautify their community gardens a bit,” Germann said. In addition, a group of POET team members volunteered more than 20 hours of their time last summer to paint a gazebo in the Glenville town square that had recently been repaired. “We get a lot of requests for help and try to answer the call when we can because it’s the right thing to do.”
For Karaus, the pivot from aspiring chemistry teacher to a self-proclaimed POET “chemical science nerd” was a good one. With a grandpa and uncle who were farmers, he has liked being directly involved in agriculture for his entire career. And his college-age interests in instructing and influencing others have simply been redirected. “My role is to hire people who are going to turn into leaders. What I enjoy most is when we make a good hiring decision, and I can help that person learn and grow into their full potential.”
Cox agreed. What he loves about his role at POET is how it benefits agriculture and the local community. “What I like most about my job is seeing how much POET contributes to society and what we give out. Everything here is recycled and reused. It’s great. Nothing goes to waste — we use all parts of the corn kernel. When I go to the gas pumps and bioethanol is in the fuel, or see someone crack open a soda made with CO2, I feel a part of everybody’s lives. It gives me a sense of pride in what I do.”
