The Honor Flight sends veterans to Washington, D.C. to view their war memorials. CJ Bio America showed its support for the cause by donating $30,000 to the Honor Flight program. CJ Bio America is also funding a Korean War monument that will be placed at Veterans Memorial Park.

The CJ Group plans to reenter the biopharmaceutical business by acquiring Chunlab three years after selling CJ Healthcare to Kolmar Korea. Chunlab, a company established in 2009 by Professor Chun Jong-sik of Seoul National University, specializes in the research and development of microbiome, a combination of microbe and biome referring to the trillions of microorganisms and their genes in the human body.

Few companies in the Fort Dodge region have experienced the type of growth seen at CJ Bio America. Nine years ago the company invested over $320 million in its Webster County plant, which produces an amino acid called lysine. Now another expansion is planned. CJ will invest about $20 million to increase production of threonine. The project, called G2, will create about 25 new jobs, bringing the total number of employees up to about 250.

CJ Bio America near Fort Dodge will receive $675,600 in tax credits for a $20.5 million expansion. CJ Bio America makes 150,000 metric tons of amino acids annually, used in swine and poultry feed.

In the seven years since the CJ Bio America plant opened, its employees have made an impact in the community. They have donated about $500,000 to various causes, according to Luke Palmer, the company’s senior operations manager. They have also provided about 20,000 hours of volunteer service, he added.

CJ Bio America is planning to invest about $20 million in its Webster County plant so that it can make more of an amino acid that’s added to some types of livestock feed. Construction is expected to be finished in September, with the increased production scheduled to start in January 2022. The project will create 25 or 26 new jobs, according to Dennis Plautz, the chief executive officer of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance. He said about 20 people have been hired already.

CJ Cheil Jedang tied up with SKC, a polyester film and chemical material manufacturer, to produce a new biodegradable plastic material that is flexible and durable. The material has been applied to the packaging of some food products. The new material developed by SKC and CJ Cheil Jedang is good for food packaging by utilizing the characteristics of polylactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs).

The two Fort Dodge women were brought into the book project by CJ Bio America, a manufacturer of amino acids added to feed for pigs and chickens. The company wanted a way to share its values — passion, integrity, creativity and respect — with the children of the area.

A Fort Dodge feed ingredients company expects to save millions of dollars by implementing technology upgrades identified through a CIRAS Industry 4.0 assessment. CJ Bio America, which produces amino acids for livestock and poultry feed, expects to have the top two or three items of improvements on its list completed by the end of 2020. The list, which details places where technology enhancements could have the largest impact on the company’s bottom line, was created through a CIRAS-guided process of reassessing CJ Bio America’s current use of technology in its business.

In an effort to make sure every student who needed a mask got one, CJ Bio America delivered thousands of them to area schools just as the school year was getting underway. The company delivered about 7,000 masks total. Those masks were delivered by Andy Sheffield, CJ human resources manager, to Fort Dodge community schools, St. Edmond Catholic School, Community Christian School and Manson Northwest Webster schools. Adult and youth-sized masks were included in the donations.