PEORIA ( 25News Now ) - After nearly a year of construction and planning, a new chemical manufacturing plant will soon be operational in Peoria’s South Side.

Viridis Industrial Chemistry will be operating next to the former BioUjra facility.

Based in Nebraska, the company specializes in producing ethyl acetate, a renewable chemical compound commonly used in manufacturing. This compound has previously been made using fossil fuels, but Viridis will use corn-based ethanol as a greener alternative.

If the plant’s end-of-the-year commission goes according to plan, Viridis will begin making sales in the first quarter of 2026.

CEO Patrick Killian said it’s exciting to use what Illinois’s agriculture industry produces to benefit the domestic economy as a whole.

“When we get up and running,

See Full Page