Cargill Inc. is planning a $48 million project at its plant west of Fort Dodge as it continues to invest in the facility.

The project will expand value-added corn production for the company’s food ingredient market, according to the Iowa Economic Development Authority. It will include a new process building, tanks and transload capacity, the authority reported.

The project will not create any new jobs. However, current employees will be getting raises as they master the increased skills needed for the expanded production.

”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,” she added. ”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.”

Construction is expected to begin this year and be complete by the fall of 2024.

The project will come before the Webster County Board of Supervisors Tuesday morning. The supervisors will consider awarding an incentive to the company. That incentive would consist of rebating to the company 70 percent of the increased property taxes it would pay as a result of the project. That rebate would be paid over 10 years. Its estimated value is $1,127,000.

The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board will consider incentives for the project on Friday. The state incentives would consist of an investment tax credit of $332,500 and a refund of sales, service and use taxes paid during the project. That refund’s estimated value is $367,500.

”Cargill is continuing to invest in this site to keep and maintain the competitiveness in Webster County,” said Dennis Plautz, the chief executive officer of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance.

The Cargill plant is in the ag industrial park called Iowa’s Crossroads of Global Innovation. Cargill bought the partially completed plant from previous owner Tate & Lyle for $57 million in 2011.

It is a corn wet milling facility capable of producing dextrose, ethanol, feed for cattle, corn gluten meal fed to poultry, corn germ and a molasses like substance called corn steep liquor.

It employs 147 people, according to the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Additional employees of various contractors working for Cargill are on the site on a regular basis also.

The plant consumes about 150,000 bushels of corn a day.