Washington, D.C. – Wyoming and regional sugar beet growers have finalized an agreement to buy six sugar processing factories including one in Lovell, helping them stay in business.

U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, who assisted the growers with federal loan guarantees and navigation through the red tape of federal regulation, sent his congratulation to the growers.

"The sugar produced from Big Horn Basin sugar beets will be a whole lot sweeter thanks to the deal you finalized today," said Enzi. "I commend you, the members of the Rocky Mountain Sugar Growers Cooperative for taking the initiative to solve your own problems. When Tate and Lyle Sugar said it was going to close the factory doors you could have just given up, but you didn't. Now you have a better opportunity to ensure the stability of your own industry by positioning yourselves closer to the marketplace."

Sugar beet growers from Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska and Colorado decided to form the Rocky Mountain Sugar Growers Cooperative after Tate and Lyle Sugar Company announced it was planning to close sugar processing facilities in the region, including a plant in Lovell.

The Rocky Mountain Sugar Cooperative acquired the Western Sugar Company with financing from, among other sources, CIT Business Credit and the growers, many of whom received loan guarantees from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Western Sugar Company is a division of Tate and Lyle Sugar. Western owns six sugar factories in Billings, Mont., Lovell, Scottsbluff and Bayard, Neb. and Greeley and Fort Morgan, Colo.