Monolith, the company that built a carbon black manufacturing plant near Hallam and is in the process of developing a second plant, plans to launch a hiring spree to support the expansion.
The company, which is headquartered in Lincoln, said it plans to hire 200 new employees over the next 18 months.
Many of the jobs are for highly skilled positions, including chemists and engineers, Monolith said, and are needed to support its expansion.
The company, which moved to the Lincoln area from California several years ago, opened a $100 million plant last year south of Sheldon Station with the capacity to produce about 14,000 tons annually of carbon black, a powdery substance that's used in tires, inks, plastics and other products.
It now plans to build a second carbon black plant to the north of the existing plant near Hallam, at a likely cost of $1 billion or more, that will have 12 times the production capacity.
As part of that expansion, the company also plans to build an anhydrous ammonia plant that will use the hydrogen produced in the carbon black manufacturing process and combine it with nitrogen to produce the liquid fertilizer that farmers use. That plant will have a capacity of about 275,000 metric tons annually.
“Producing clean materials like green hydrogen, clean carbon black and carbon-free ammonia in support of a sustainable energy future doesn’t happen without some of the most talented and innovative minds in the business,†Rob Hanson, Monolith’s co-founder and chief executive officer, said in a news release. “At Monolith, we’re passionate about creating a green world, but also creating a company culture that challenges employees to pursue their passions and then rewards them well for doing so.â€
Gov. Pete Ricketts said the announcement comes at "an exciting time for the state of Nebraska."
“High-paying clean energy jobs like those at Monolith play a critical role in our state’s economic growth, and we’re proud to see a Nebraska company at the forefront of innovative technology with global impact," he said in a statement.
Monolith is the second local company to announce major hiring plans in less than two months.
Sheldon Station near Hallam was built in the early 1960s as Nebraska's first nuclear power plant. It was decommissioned in 1966, soon after it was completed, when the reactor began leaking radioactive liquid sodium.
An aerial view of Sheldon Station under construction in 1960. It would be two more years before the state's first nuclear reactor was switched on. It would be only six more years until it was turned off for good.
A workman inspects a 33-foot deep, 19-foot-wide reactor liner that weighed 50 tons in 1961. The liner would eventually house Nebraska's first nuclear power generator.
A ladder sits atop the decommissioned nuclear reactor at Sheldon Station before being buried in 1966. The reactor was shut down and shuttered after leaks of radioactive liquid sodium, a coolant, were found.
All that remains of Sheldon Station's history as Nebraska's first nuclear power plant is a concrete bunker completely encasing the old reactor. Photo from 1988.
There's a lot of buzz surrounding the Sheldon Station generating plant near Hallam and the announcement of a new partnership with Monolith Materials Inc. that will make Sheldon the nation's first hydrogen-burning power plant. But Sheldon's made history before, as Nebraska's first nuclear power plant, before it was decommissioned almost immediately and converted to burn coal.
Sheldon Station near Hallam was built in the early 1960s as Nebraska's first nuclear power plant. It was decommissioned in 1966, soon after it was completed, when the reactor began leaking radioactive liquid sodium.
Journal Star file photo
Consumers Public Power superintendent W.P. Venable breaks ground for Sheldon Station in 1958.
Journal Star file photo
An aerial view of Sheldon Station under construction in 1960. It would be two more years before the state's first nuclear reactor was switched on. It would be only six more years until it was turned off for good.
Journal Star file photo
Nuclear reactor vessels were eventually placed in the gaping holes of Sheldon Station's interior, shown under construction in 1960.
Journal Star file photo
A workman inspects a 33-foot deep, 19-foot-wide reactor liner that weighed 50 tons in 1961. The liner would eventually house Nebraska's first nuclear power generator.
Journal Star file photo
Workers remotely load the radioactive fuel into the completed reactors at Sheldon Station in 1962. The station was switched on soon after.
Journal Star file photo
A workman admires what he has built, Sheldon Station, in 1962.
Journal Star file photo
This photo shows the Sheldon Station nuclear reactor on a working day in 1963.
Journal Star file photo
A ladder sits atop the decommissioned nuclear reactor at Sheldon Station before being buried in 1966. The reactor was shut down and shuttered after leaks of radioactive liquid sodium, a coolant, were found.
Journal Star file photo
Personnel carefully prepare a nuclear fuel rod for shipment in a steel case after Sheldon Station's nuclear reactor was decommissioned in 1966.
Journal Star file photo
All that remains of Sheldon Station's history as Nebraska's first nuclear power plant is a concrete bunker completely encasing the old reactor. Photo from 1988.
Monolith, which started production at its carbon black plant near Hallam last year, said it plans to hire 200 employees over the next 18 months as part of an expansion that will include a second, much-larger plant.