The privately held corporation, which was originally called Broin Companies, is headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

[2] POET operates 33 ethanol plants spread across Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Minnesota, and South Dakota.

He said, “We wanted a name that would represent, rather than describe, who we are and what we do...As a poet takes everyday words and turns them into something valuable and beautiful; we use creativity that comes from common sense to leave things better than we found them.”[8] The reorganization changes the following company names: Its plants have been visited by President George W. Bush in Wentworth, South Dakota in April 2002, by President Barack Obama in Macon, Missouri in April 2010, and by President Joe Biden in Menlo, Iowa, in April 2022.

[citation needed] POET has constructed an $8 million pilot plant to produce cellulosic ethanol made from corn cobs and other crop residue.

[9] A commercial scale project, based on the pilot plant, was undertaken as a joint venture with Royal DSM under the name POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels, LLC.