PRNewswire — Officials with Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy, LLC (“SIRE”), Tuesday, announced the resignation Hubert M. Houser as a member of SIRE’s board of directors and chair of the Board’s Nominating Committee, effective immediately.

Houser served as a member of the Board since 2005. He is a lifelong owner of farm, cow-calf and poultry operation located near Carson.  Houser also served in the Iowa Legislature from 1992 to 2015, first in the House of Representatives and then in the Senate (from 2002 to 2015).  He served on the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors from 1978 to 1992. Prior to joining the Company, Houser served as a director of the Riverbend Industrial Park and was a founder of the Iowa Western Development Association and Golden Hills RC&D.

Karol King, Chairman of SIRE’s Board of Directors said: “Hubert Houser is one of the key founders of SIRE, having worked for years to attract additional industry, in particular value-added ag business, to Pottawattamie County and southwest Iowa. Hubert’s leadership and vision included strategic steps to assemble sufficient real estate for SIRE, in advance of the Company’s formation. The respect for Hubert’s long history of public service and his experience with public entities and private business were key to SIRE over and over through the years.”

Until his resignation, Mr. Houser served as the chair of the Board’s Nominating Committee. The Board has appointed Theodore Bauer to serve as the chair of the Nominating Committee.

SIRE is located on 275 acres in Council Bluffs, and operates a 140 million gallon per year ethanol plant. SIRE began producing ethanol in February 2009 and sells its ethanol, distillers grains, corn syrup, and corn oil in the continental United States, Mexico and the Pacific Rim.