Tom Slunecka serves as the chief executive officer for Ag Management Solutions, which provides association management services to groups like the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, Wisconsin Soybean Growers Association and the Specialty Soy and Grains Alliance. Slunecka is also CEO of Minnesota Soybean and the Ag Innovation Campus. Slunecka said the AIC project was originally going to be co-located with the Epitome Energy soybean crush plant which would have provided some cost savings. In 2022, Epitome Energy suspended its plans for the Crookston location and is still working on the development of a crush plant at Grand Forks. “It’s been a very interesting last three or four years,” said Slunecka. “When COVID first happened, everything kept moving forward but then there was a delay in parts and availability in labor. The doubling of the cost of the project due to COVID really started to put a lot of added pressure that nobody had or could have anticipated.” Slunecka said the soybean crush industry has also been hurt by the uncertainty over renewable biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel. Crush plant profitability is at a 20-year low. The final nail in the coffin was a fire that happened a month ago that damaged a small portion of the plant.
