Not your typical
corporate executive,
Marquis often flies
himself to work in
his own helicopter.
GLOBAL
“I can remember exactly when I had my ‘aha’ moment
with ethanol,” Marquis stated. “It was the day after
Christmas in 2004. I had been thinking about the
future of the business over the holidays. Corn prices
at that time had remained flat, but the price of energy
continued to climb. I said to my business partner,
‘Don’t you think we’re looking at a time in history
when energy is going to take over as the driving
force behind the price of corn?’”
The answer was a resounding “yes,” and the Marquis
family focused its energy on entering the growing
industry. As they made plans to build their first
In 2016,
the U.S. ethanol
export business
surpassed
1 billion
gallons .
ethanol plant, their experience in the export arena
led to a second “aha” moment. “We realized that
our outbound logistics would be extremely
important in selling our ethanol and distillers grain,”
Marquis noted. “That’s why we decided to build an
ethanol plant on the water that can participate in
the export market.”
The result was their Hennepin, Illinois, plant, which is
situated on the Illinois River and served by barge, the
Norfolk Southern Railway, and the Interstate system.
The success of its first plant led Marquis Energy to
ultimately build a second, identical plant on the same
(continued next page)
SUMMER 2017
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