Report: POET, Broins not only backers of pork plant opposition

A campaign committee hoping to block any new meat packing plants from coming to Sioux Falls raised nearly $100,000 in support of a pending ballot initiative that would do just that.

In a campaign finance filing submitted to the City Clerk’s Office ahead of Tuesday’s 5 p.m. deadline, Smart Growth Sioux Falls reported more than $93,000 in campaign contributions since its formation earlier this year.

The report confirms prior news reports that a major backer of the opposition to Wholestone Farms LLC’s plan to construct a $600 million pork processing plant in the northeast corner of Sioux Falls is Jeff Broin, the founder, CEO and chairman of POET, a leading producer of ethanol and biofuels headquartered in Sioux Falls.

Broin also owns a residential housing development and a personal home less than two miles from the Wholestone site where construction is already taking place.

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