A newly formed company plans to open a facility in Knox County that will convert the waste from Indiana’s watermelon, pumpkin, and cantaloupe industries into biodegradable plastics.
AgroRenew LLC, which was founded by Brian and Katie Southern of Evansville in July 2023, says it plans to build an $83 million facility at the intersection of U.S. 41 and Elkorn Road in the U.S. 41 Industrial Park south of Vincennes. The factory, which is expected to break ground in early 2024, will be 196,000-square feet and cover more than 20 acres.
The new facility is scheduled to open by 2026 and employ nearly 250 people.
Officials from the City of Vincennes, the Knox County Indiana Economic Development Corporation, and The Pantheon announced the launch of AgroRenew LLC and its new facility in Vincennes last week.
There are also future plans to establish a 16,000-square-foot Bioplastics Innovation Center next to the facility that will provide 21 acres of experimental crop development creating over 20 science and engineering jobs.