Hero BX is an Erie-based bio fuels company that has been steadily growing since it began 10 years ago.

It is now the biggest bio fuels plant east of the Mississippi.

And in addition to its main facility along East Lake Road, the company also operates a plant in Alabama and a fuel terminal in New Hampshire.

The local plant operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on a 13 acre site.

It makes an average of 150,000 gallons of fuel daily, or 5 million gallons annually.

Unlike many other bio fuel plants, the Erie facility can pre treat products known as feed stocks. That increases the type of products it can accept.

Vice President of Operations John Nies said, "So that is something that really sets us apart."

Once the pre treatment is done in miles of piping and the raw materials cleaned, the actual bio diesel is produced.

Everything is monitored by workers in a control room.

And workers in the on site lab test for quality at every stop of the process, making sure customers get what they paid for.

The majority of customers are retailers, selling fuel for trucks and cars.

President Chris Peterson said, "First and foremost is transportation. It goes into the diesel pool."

But the company also supplies bio fuel for home heating. 

Right now the company has about 50 employees at the local facility and other 50 in Alabama. But managers hope to keep growing.

Peterson said, "We want to expand our footprint. We are looking to expand our business. We want additional plants. We want to employ more people. We want to get their product into the mainstream."