Officials in Clearfield County said they are hoping the state's first ethanol plant can help their struggling economy.

More than 50 workers will be hired to work at the Bionol Ethanol Plant near Clearfield, which is expected to open early next year.

Officials with Bionol said the hiring process started Friday and posted the jobs on the company's Web site and Pennsylvania Careerlink.

There has been some concern that many of the new workers will be brought in from outside the county, but plant officials said they want to hire as many local people as they can.

The interview process will start in September, and officials hope to have all new workers on the job by November. They will have to go through an extra two months of training before the plant is scheduled to open in January.

Local officials said the new ethanol plant will help the region and the country move away from foreign sources of energy.

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