POET, one of the world's largest ethanol producers, released its first-ever economic impact study on Aug. 13, revealing the impact POET made to national economic growth and job creation in 2014, including:

* Generating a total of $13.5 billion in sales for U.S. businesses;

* Adding $5.4 billion in national gross domestic product;

* Supporting an estimated 39,978 full-time jobs, and

* Contributing $3.1 billion in income for American families.

The report further details POET’s contribution to the economic prosperity in each of the seven states where it operates — South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. POET, which is headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D., operates a total of 27 dry mill corn ethanol plants with an annual capacity of 1.7 billion gal. — more than 11% of the total U.S. ethanol output.

"Ethanol provides us the means to produce our own clean fuel and keep the enormous economic benefits within America’s borders," POET chief executive officer Jeff Lautt said. "The impact flows from the plants to farmers, communities, throughout the states in which they operate and across the nation."

To read the full report and find additional information on state-level data, visit www.poet.com/impact.

The findings are derived from an independent and comprehensive nationwide study titled "Economic Contribution of POET Biofuels Production on U.S. & State Economies," conducted by ABF Economics. ABF analysts used an economic model called IMPLAN (Impact Analysis for Planning) to quantify the economic impact of POET’s operations across three main sectors: ethanol production, agriculture/corn growth and biofuels R&D.