FORT DODGE, IOWA — Cargill has announced plans to invest $48.25 million in its plant west of Fort Dodge in Iowa.

The proposed project will expand Cargill’s value-added corn production for its food ingredient market, according to a project report from the Iowa Economic Development Authority. The project also will include a new process building, tanks and transload capacity, the IEDA said.

Although no new jobs are expected to be created as a result of the expansion, increased skills and wages for existing employees are expected as the employees learn new processes.

“Since 2011, when Cargill opened the doors to its Fort Dodge biotechnology campus, we’ve made significant investments to keep the facility leading edge, added more team members and given back to the community through volunteering and financial donations,” said Sydney Pokorny, the facility manager. “We continue to explore opportunities to expand this facility as well as look for new partners to co-locate on our campus. We are proud to be a part of the Webster County community, and look forward to sharing more in the future when we have more definitive growth plans.”

Site preparation is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2022 and be complete by the fall of 2024.