After selling General Crane, Inc. in 2002 to his son, Jason, and his long-time general manager, Jim Robertson, Steven Retterath began investing heavily into ethanol production companies. Below are details on some companies where Mr. Retterath is a director and/or has ownership stakes.

Golden Grain Energy, LLC

In 2002 a team of Iowa-based farmers and investors initiated plans to construct an ethanol plant in Mason City, Iowa. The investor group incorporated their newly-formed company, Golden Grain Energy, LLC in March.

Next, Golden Grain Energy, led by president and CEO Walter Wendland and Treasurer Jim Boeding, announced a limited stock offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in November in order to raise funds to construct the $59 million ethanol plant.

At the close of the stock offering SEC filings revealed that Steven Retterath had purchased 2,000,000 shares, or units, valued at $1 apiece. A Retterath-controlled company, Pompano Beach Holdings, LLC, purchased an additional 2,000,000 units. Exercising his rights pursuant to the company operating agreement, Retterath, a major shareholder, appointed two individuals to the Golden Grain Energy’s board of directors, Stephen Eastman, the manager of an Iowa-based farming business, and his brother, Bernard Retterath.

In December 2004 the plant began production. By February 2005 the company had over 700 investors owning over 25 million units of the company. Throughout 2005 and 2006, Steven Retterath in a series of transactions acquired an additional 577,000 shares at a total price of over $2 million. According to the most up-to-date SEC data (December 200), Mr. Retterath currently owns 4,577,000 units, or 16.4% of Golden Grain Energy, LLC.

A Recent public filing revealed that Mr. Retterath has ousted several board members from the company, including his own brother. After the annual meeting in March, 2009 Retterath removed his two board appointees, Bernard Retterath and Steve Eastman, and appointed himself to the board along with General Crane USA finance officer Matthew Glenn Sollars. According to the filing, “Shortly thereafter, on May 18, 2009, Steve Retterath removed Mr. Sollars and appointed Chris Schwarck to replace him.”

In an October 2009 filing, Golden Grain’s primary creditor, Federal Savings of Rochester, MN, brought into effect an amendment to the loan agreement. In this amendment Federal Savings consented to Golden Grain investing up to $1.5 million in Guardian Energy, LLC (a joint venture set up by several ethanol producers for the purpose of buying an ethanol plant). According to the company’s website, Walter Wendland, who sits on the Board of both Golden Grain and Homeland Energy, currently sits on the Board of Directors. The amendment also requires that Golden Grain discontinue deferral of principle debt service, repay all deferred payments and resume payment on the loan principle.

Golden Grain Energy was a majority owner of Corn Oil Bio-Solutions, LLC, a now dormant biodiesel production company, but due to uncertainty, Golden Grain managers dropped the investment. This resulted in a recorded a loss of $2,400,000.00 during the quarter ended January 31, 2009. (See form 8-K)

A report for the quarterly period ending January 31, 2010 shows that Golden Grain is recovering from its losses in early 2009, posting a profit for the quarter (see chart below).

Homeland Energy Solutions, LLC

Steven Retterath took an even more active role in his next ethanol investment, Homeland Energy Solutions, LLC.

The company incorporated in the state of Iowa in November 2005, with Steve Eastman as the organizer (a Retterath board appointee at Golden Grain Energy).

Similar to Golden Grain, Homeland Energy Solutions registered with the SEC in order to make a stock offering for a proposed $159 million ethanol manufacturing plant in Lawler, Iowa. The filing showed that Mr. Eastman served as company president and Bernard Retterath served as treasurer. Steve Retterath owned an initial 400 shares, valued at $1,000 per share, which represented a 14.04% ownership stake in the company.

In July 2007 the Homeland Energy entered into a $120 million design-build contract with Fagen, Inc. to construct the facility. Later that year the company received over $100 million in loans from Home Federal Savings Bank to finance the project. Home Federal Savings is also a major financer for Golden Grain Energy.

Homeland Energy Solutions released its first annual report (10K) in February 2008. The filing showed that 9 of the 10 directors had a relationship with Golden Grain Energy.

The filing also revealed that Steven Retterath now owned 25,060 shares of Homeland Energy Solutions, LLC stock. At $1,000 per share that was equivalent to $25,600,000 and a 27.04% stake in the company. Mr. Retterath also pledged $2,000,000 as collateral to help the company secure financing from Home Federal Savings.

In December 2008 Steven Eastman and Bernard Retterath resigned their positions as president and treasurer, respectively, and were replaced by Golden Grain Energy executives Walter Wendland and Christine Marchand. Both Eastman and Retterath remain on the board.

December 2008 also saw the addition of a Management Services Agreement between Golden Grain and Homeland Energy Solutions. This agreement is meant to reduce the overhead cost of executive compensation for executives shared by both companies.

2009’s 10-K reveals that Mr. Retterath has increased his stake in the company to 25,460 units or 27.84% of the company. This document also shows that Golden Grain Energy, LLC (in which Mr. Retterath has a 16.4% stake) owns 5,000 units or 5.47% of HES.

In a company filing dated December 31, 2009, Homeland Energy announced the resignation of Treasurer/ Chief Financial Officer Christine Marchand and the hiring of her replacement: Jeffrey Grober. Due to Ms. Marchand’s resignation, the position of CFO will no longer be a shared position. Previously, the position of Chief Financial Officer was shared between Golden Grain and Homeland Energy Solutions under a Management Services Agreement.

Christine Marchand was elected to the Board of Directors for HES on March 30, 2010, according to the company’s most recent 8-K. This filing also shows that Bernard Retterath, brother of Steven Retterath, was not elected to the Board of Directors.

In addition to sharing company executives, Golden Grain and Homeland Energy also share board members: Steven Retterath, Jerry Calease, and Leslie Hansen serve as directors for both companies.

Homeland Energy’s latest annual report (10-K), dated December 31, 2009, states that production at the company’s plant began in April of 2009. The same document reveals Homeland’s net income for the previous fiscal year (below).

Absolute Energy, LLC

A June 2009 SEC filing for Golden Grain Energy revealed that Steven Retterath also sits on the board of directors for Absolute Energy, LLC. In that same filing Mr. Retterath appointed a new board member to Golden Grain, Chris Schwarck, another Absolute Energy director.

The company’s website shows that Steven Retterath is no longer a member, but it also reveals that Mark Retterath and Rick Schwarck are members of the Board of Managers.

Absolute Energy runs an ethanol facility near the Iowa-Minnesota line in Lyle, Minnesota. The facility began production in late 2007. It is unclear if Mr. Retterath has an ownership stake in the company.