As the Mississippi River bisects the country from Minnesota's Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico, it touches 125 counties and parishes along its 2,302-mile (3,705-km) route, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The river

River Counties Project Count 2004      The table below displays corporate new plant and expansion project totals during 2004 from counties that abut the Mississippi River.       Cumulatively, Tennessee led all states with 41 projects, trailed by Minnesota with 39. While those two states were led by dominating counties, they were immediately trailed by Illinois, with 24 projects in 10 counties; and Iowa, with 20 projects in seven counties. Highlighted at right are three areas that dominated the top county rankings. County State Projects Shelby Tenn. 31 Hennepin Minn. 22 Dakota Minn. 15 DeSoto Miss. 10 Dyer Tenn. 7 St. Louis Mo. 6 Dubuque Iowa 6 St. Clair Ill. 5 Source: Conway Data Inc. New Plant Database

has long been a catalyst for economic development in the 10 states it touches. One of the key sectors drawing investment of late is energy.
      Ethanol production is rising in the U.S., and the Mississippi cuts through some of the major states that manufacture this corn-based fuel. The U.S. used more than 1.2 billion bushels of corn for ethanol in 2004 and may use 1.4 billion in 2005, according to the Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB). Iowa is benefiting from this increased usage and is poised to become the leading ethanol producing state this year, the ICPB says.
      The number of Iowa's ethanol plants doubled from five to 10 during 2004 and at least eight more are under consideration or on the drawing board. One of the latest to begin production is from Big River Resources, which opened a plant in West Burlington.
      The plant, owned by a cooperative of Iowa and Illinois corn farmers, has an annual production capacity of 40 million gallons (151 million l.) of ethanol.