The middle of next summer. That's when Imperial Sugar's CEO hopes its new sugar packaging plant will be up and running. The process of getting to that point is already underway:

- Monday, crews will begin washing out sugar that's stuck in the equipment.
- The entire cleaning process should be complete sometime this summer.
- In the fall -- imperial expects to run its refinery again.
- Next spring -- the new silos should be constructed.
    
275 of 371 employees are already back at work. "People are happy to be back to work and they really are looking forward to restarting this factory," says CEO and President John Sheptor.

He and the company's board of directors always wanted to rebuild. It was just a matter of how. "Our intent is to build one of the most modern – if not the most modern – sugar packaging plant in the country," says Sheptor.

It's a plant he hopes will also serve as a model for how sugar should be managed. One idea is very eco-friendly. "Installing solar panels on the new packaging facility that will provide the majority of the energy requirements for the equipment in the packaging facility," Sheptor explains.

While company leaders have big dreams, Imperial must first focus on today. "They are actually working on the highest structure that you can see in the background," says Sheptor about the tower beside one of the silos.

About one-third of the demolition of the explosion site has already been completed – just the beginning of moving forward. "The satisfaction and the joy of knowing where families are gonna get another chance to extend this plant onto their grandchildren as was done to them by the generations that came before," says Sheptor.

He says the most important goal is making sure the facility is a safe place for all its employees.

Sheptor expects all employees to be back at work within the next few weeks. Imperial is the second largest sugar refinery in the nation.