A new type of manufacturing plant will soon begin filling out the local team and beginning operations. Supply Energetics signed a 30-year lease with Great Plains Indistrial Park earlier this year, according to Vice President of Operations and Facilities Jeff Brothers.
According to Brothers, the company was founded within the last year, and are currently in the testing process.
Supply Energetics will specialize in creating nitrocellulose, a precursor to gunpowder and other explosives.
Brothers described this as a chemical process. Starting with cellulose, nitric acid and sulphuric acid are added. The cellulose absorbs these chemicals, creating nitrocellulose.
As the Sun has previously reported, Supply energetics produce nitric acid using air, water and sunlight. Supply Energetics founder Eliot Pence said this doesn’t require precursors, which are difficult to source.
Besides creating nitric acid, the company will also grow its own cellulose in the form of algae.
“That’s different because usually you just get cellulose from grass or cotton or wherever. We’re growing it,” Pence said.
“We’re trying to create containerized, modularized mini munitions factories that you can forward deploy,” he said. Rather than just having a central manufacturing location, this would create container units that could be moved to other sites.
The jobs created would be a combination of manufacturing, lab, chemists, biologists and factory managers.
Brothers said the biggest impact the new manufacturing plant will be seen in the realm of job creation, and noted that they are currently hiring for critical roles.
“This is not a short-term thing,” Brothers said, acknowledging the 30-year lease agreement with Great Plains Industrial Park. “We really want to build a team.”
Brothers said that along with the team, they are trying to build a company culture where safety and a healthy work-life balance are paramount. Brothers noted that the company is veteran- owned and veteran-backed. He said that they were focused on sustainability for decades and keeping people in the community.
The bulk of the clientele will be military, such as large defense conractors. Though Supply Energetics will be open to commercial customers as well.
The first article, or first manufacturing run, is set for the first quarter of 2026.
Brothers said that the majority of the hiring process will begin Dec. 1.
As was previously reported in the Sun: The lease includes the use of the 920 site as a staging area. Any building space rented will cost $3 per square foot in the first year plus $750 per acre leased. In year two, the building rent will increase to $4 per square foot. Each year after that, the building rent increases by 1.5% over the previous year, according to the lease agreement.
Great Plains board chairman Bob Wood said the lease envisions giving the company time to scale up in the early years with a lower per-foot lease rate.
Brothers noted that this facility aims to fill a void in the industry. Brothers said that currently, there is only one facility producing nitrocellulose in the United States.
“So we are setting up to become a secondary source for the commercial and military market,” Brothers said.
To learn more about Supply energetics, visit https://www.supplyenergetics.com/.
