EAST DUBLIN, Ga. — When you eat at restaurants, they probably use some type of grease to cook your food, but they eventually they throw it out.
Well, one Dublin business says they'll turn that old grease and water waste into renewable energy.
Smisson-Mathis Energy president Franklin Mathis says the company started about seven years ago.
He says their focus is turning wastewater and even restaurant grease into renewable energy while investing in more rural parts of Georgia.
"Right now, we are building the first plant of its kind right here in East Dublin and construction started a few months ago," Mathis said.
Mathis says they can turn water waste and even old restaurant grease that would otherwise go into a landfill or a sewer system into renewable energy for certain vehicles.
"And these enzymes, basically the same enzymes we have in our gut, that break down food, they break down these waste oils into bio-diesel," Mathis said.
The energy company is investing $10 million privately over four acres to produce this fuel.
"We had this facility that already existed and we were able to purchase and build it here in our own backyard," said Smisson-Mathis CEO Kenneth Brown.
Brown says one reason they chose Dublin is due to incentives offered by the United States Department of Agriculture to produce new technology in rural areas.
And with new business comes new jobs. Mathis says more than a dozen people will work at the plant once they open.
"We give about thirty jobs to the community indirectly; truck driving jobs, distribution," Mathis said.
Mathis says they are looking for smart job candidates who are ready to learn, and while they are getting ready to grow, Brown says if things work out, Dublin could pave the way for more growth.
"And at the same time allow us to find ways to demonstrate and use as a springboard this facility here in Dublin," Brown said.
If you are looking for a job, Mathis says they will be working with the local chamber to get the jobs posted. You can find more information about the company here.