Xethanol to leave after doing lots of nothing

boon·dog·gle (bün’-däg-el) n. work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having value

No one in our area, particularly readers of this column, should have been surprised at the revelation last week that alternative energy company Xethanol Corp. might sell its Augusta plant.
You know, the plant it said would be employing more than 100 people and producing 50 million gallons of ethanol by now.
I had expressed concern about this project since early last year (see Scuttlebiz, March 26). Although I wasn’t the only one to call it bull, I was the only one to do it publicly.
Hold on, let me bask in that for a moment …
OK, it’s out of my system now.
Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see the company follow through on its plan to turn the former Pfizer plant into a refinery capable of converting paper mill waste into auto fuel.
The east Augusta facility would have put our region at the forefront of the biofuel movement. Now, it will likely be remembered as one of the biggest economic development swindles to hit the two-state area.
The warning signs were abundant:
-- The company’s track record: By the time Xethanol came to town, investigative reporters (namely billionaire Mark Cuban’s Sharesleuth.com) had reported that many of the company’s founders and financial backers have a history of federal disciplinary actions.
-- The revolving door of executives: Since the Augusta announcement, Xethanol has gone through three CEOs (one of whom was a Pfizer corporate attorney for 30 years. Hmmmm).
-- No cash flow: The company’s sole production facility, a corn-based ethanol plant in Iowa, loses money on every gallon it produces.
-- Lack of communication: The Augusta Chronicle business staffers called the company’s public relations officials an average of once a week. The number of phone messages returned can be counted on one hand. An official from the Augusta mayor’s office said last week that the company “cut off” communications more than a year ago.
As far as I could tell, what excited company officials most about the Augusta facility was that they were able to recoup nearly 40 percent of their investment in the plant ($8.2 million according to its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission) by selling Pfizer’s manufacturing equipment.
When I asked about the possible sale of the property last week, a senior vice president provided a only a prepared one-sentence statement and refused to answer further questions.
-- Liability issues: Did I mention Xethanol in November settled seven shareholder lawsuits that alleged the company deliberately misstated its ethanol production capabilities to boost its stock price?
On top of that was a steady stream of meaningless news releases and SEC filings that announced everything but the production of waste-based ethanol. I can’t remember the last time I saw a company generate so much noise by doing so little.
None of that bothers me, though.
What bothers me is the suspicion that Xethanol’s leaders acquired the site with no intention of developing a refinery; that they bought it for the sole purpose of selling off its expensive pharmaceutical equipment; that they bought it to generate a buzz to boost the company’s stock.*
All I’m saying is, pants might be on fire and hanging from a telephone wire.
As for Pfizer, if it sold the plant to Xethanol for the sole purpose of ensuring the site wouldn’t fall into the hands of a competitor – as some ex-employees have intimated – then that makes Pfizer a lousy corporate citizen in my book.
You don’t want to operate a pharmaceutical plant in Augusta anymore? Fine. Sell it to a company that will operate it, not one that’s going to part it out like a stolen Chevy Caprice.

HEAVY METAL: An Indianapolis company might soon build a lead oxide plant in south Augusta next to the U.S. Battery plant.
Omni Oxide Corp. recently filed an application with state environmental regulators to build the plant next at the U.S. Battery campus at 1895 Tobacco Road.
It appears Omni and U.S. Battery are forging a local supplier relationship. Lead oxide is one of the main components (lead and diluted sulfuric acid being the others) required to make the “deep cycle” lead-acid batteries that U.S. Battery manufactures for golf cars, boats, RVs, military vehicles and solar power systems.
Basically, the facility would melt 1-ton lead ingots into an oxide mill where it is “spun” into lead oxide particles. Emissions would be controlled by a filter bags, according to the permit application.
An Omni Oxide spokesman declined to comment on the project but acknowledged the number of people that would be working there would not be considered substantial (it would only be about 8,000 square feet).

THE NEED FOR SPEED: The Lawrence clan over at Bobby Jones Ford is expected this week to begin work on a new vehicle service center in Augusta West shopping center, which is better known as “that place over by the mall where Burlington Coat Factory** and that Japanese steakhouse are.”
Last month, the Lawrence s acquired the 1-acre outparcel tract that formerly housed the National Tire and Battery store with plans for turning it into an express service shop called Quick Lane, a Ford Motor Co. concept designed to give customers speedier service than they would get at a dealership’s often-crowded service department.
“Believe it or not, we’re limited on service space here even though we’ve got a lot of land,” Vice President Bud Lawrence said, referring to the company’s 20 acres at the corner of Bobby Jones Expressway and Wrightsboro Road. “We’re really excited about the new venture.”
The facility, which is expected to open in March, will offer maintenance and light-repair services such as oil changes, brake repairs and tire rotations. You don’t have to own a Ford to go there; Mr. Lawrence said they’ll work on all brands.
They hope the Quick Lane will help keep traffic flowing through Augusta West Parkway; the shopping center is going to need help after Barnes & Noble closes this spring to move to Augusta Mall .

NO GOODWILL: Goodwill Industries’ planned purchase of the old St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church on Pleasant Home Road has fallen through.
The St. Teresa property is now under contract to Pine View Baptist Church, which hopes to sell its Davis Road property after county officials rezone it to B-2 (general business).
Goodwill officials said that they could not agree on a price with the church and that there was not enough parking space there for its proposed school/training center, anyway. Goodwill said it is now looking for alternative sites. Commercial Realtors, are you listening?

* Which, if you have cash lying around the house that you never want to see again, trades under the XNL ticker on the American Stock Exchange.
** Is it just me, or do the checkout lines there move slow? Like, DMV slow.