Southwest Minnesota is a 27-county region with its own distinct economic advantages. It is a national leader in agricultural production, renewable energy, and is on the cusp of cutting-edge isobutanol chemical manufacturing. With the availability of a quality, low-cost workforce, access to numerous colleges and universities, strong transportation
infrastructure, and quick access to Twin Cities markets, southwest Minnesota is a great place to locate your business!

In the beginning of December 2011, Butamax announced that Highwater Ethanol, located at Lamberton, MN in Redwood County,  would be its first entrant to the Butamax Early Adopters Group. Granite Falls Energy, LLC in Granite Falls was added to the Group in June of 2012. The Early Adopters Group is comprised of industryearly adopters of Butamax biobutanol technology.   This development has subsequently been put on hold at this time.

Ethanol and isobutanol producers will find a higher supply of corn crop in southwest Minnesota than any other region in the state. 56.3 percent of all estimated harvested corn acreage in Minnesota is in southwest Minnesota!