BLAIR, Neb. (AP) — A Danish bioscience business plans to invest $36 million in its eastern Nebraska plant, saying the company is counting on the ethanol industry’s continued growth.

Half a dozen new hires could be added to the 125-strong workforce because of the expansion.

Kyle Nixon is general manager of the Blair plant. He says that within a few weeks, the plant will increase by half the fermentation capacity of enzymes that ethanol plants use to squeeze more starch from each kernel of corn.

Success in the ethanol industry has made Blair something of a bio-agriculture hub after Minneapolis-based Cargill built an ethanol plant in the city about two decades ago. Mayor Jim Realph says there are more jobs than people in his town.