SME Dublin biodiesel plant in Georgia to be sold July 2 at public auction

The 5 mgy SME Dublin biodiesel plant in Dublin, Georgia. (Photo: Tactical Fabrication)

A 5-million-gallon-per-year (mgy) biodiesel plant in Dublin, Georgia, two-and-a-half hours southeast of Atlanta, is scheduled to be sold at public auction July 2.

The SME Dublin LLC plant was built by Smisson-Mathis Energy, a joint venture between Tactical Fabrication, owned by Franklin Mathis, and the Smisson Group of Macon, Georgia.

The public notice. (Source: The Courier Herald via GeorgiaPublicNotice.com)

According to the public notice, the plant “will be sold at public outcry to the highest bidder for cash at the usual place for conducting sheriff's sales in Laurens County, Georgia, within the legal hours of sale on July 2, 2024.”

Mathis told Biobased Diesel Daily® that “the usual place for conducting sheriff’s sales in Laurens County, Georgia,” as the public notice states, is on the steps of the county courthouse.

First Federal Bank, issuer of a $5 million note in 2019, sued the facility and its owners after the loan was defaulted on.

A falling out between the owners and poor management led to the default on the loan, according to Mathis.

The bank now owns the facility.

The judgement of the civil suit requires the property to be sold so the bank can recoup some of its money.

Construction of the 5 mgy enzymatic biodiesel production facility began in 2019.

The plant produced its first tanker load of biodiesel made from brown grease in the fall of 2021 and, after some delays related to the market, feedstock quality and the pandemic, SME Dublin manufactured its second load of brown-grease biodiesel in spring 2022.

The facility, estimated by Mathis to be worth $22 million, utilizes a batch process involving enzymes, resins and distillation.

The distillation system was developed completely in-house by Tactical Fabrication.

Biobased Diesel Daily® spoke with Trip Smisson but, because of ongoing litigation, he said he was unable to discuss what happened on the business side of the partnership.

When asked about the auction July 2, Smisson said it “may be up for auction.”

Biobased Diesel Daily® learned just prior to publication that an investment group toured the facility June 20.

The public notice, originally published in The Courier Herald, can be found here.

For more information on the history of the plant, its process technology and development, click here.