GIBSON CITY — Gibson City is one of two sites in the running for a proposed plant that would convert waste into building materials and a synthetic alternative to natural gas.

Officials from ECO Manufacturing LLC met with community leaders and journalists Wednesday at Percfection Coffee House.

Jim Green, president of the Cambridge, Mass.-based company, has said the $70 million plant would create 30 to 50 jobs with salaries estimated to average $50,000 a year. Using high-temperature plasma technology, the plant would convert about 200 tons of waste, including some that is classified as hazardous.

The other site under consideration is in Tennessee.

“We want to be in a community that is supportive of what we are trying to do and wants us in the community,” said company official Garret Gates.

“Gibson City is an incredible educated and unique small town, small but with the big city feel,” he added. “We could see ourselves working in this town.”

Company officials said Gibson City offers a centralized location with good interstate-highway access.

Mayor Dan Dickey said he has been working for 1½ years with Alderman Barb Yergler, the city’s economic and industrial development committee chairman, and a prominent group of local residents to attract businesses like ECO.

“This diverse group represents the broad interests of our community and county,” he said. “The group’s goal is simple, to market our community and attract new business.”

Yergler said the local process of approving the site would take four to six months to complete and will involve public input.

The plant could pump more than $26 million into the local economy in its first year, said Diane Johnson, executive director of the Community and Economic Development Foundation.

The plant would be a private business venture, but a tax increment financing district may be created to offer incentives, she said.