Asian carp have been a headache for environmentalists for years. Brought to the U.S. in the 1970s by fish farmers to clean up unwanted vegetation or grubs in commercial ponds, the carp have since spread to most rivers through flooding and are poised to invade the Great Lakes. Scientists fear the carp's voracious feeding and breeding will crowd out indigenous fish species.

Although efforts to popularize the fish for the American market has had mixed success, they are hugely popular in China, where their firm, white meat—described as a cross between cod and scallops—is highly prized. But because many Chinese waterways are too polluted to sustain carp, they've had to turn to imports to sate their hunger—creating a real win-win for the Grafton plant, which already has secured a 3-year deal to supply a Chinese customer with 35 million pounds of processed carp.

The plant is expected to create approximately 40 jobs—which doesn't sound like a big deal, unless you're living in a town with a population of 700.

Even if the number of jobs doesn't impress you, the creativity behind this venture should. It's the perfect balance between supply and demand, with the added twist of getting rid of a nuisance in the process. And the fact that there are plenty of moving parts involved in the project, from typical business risks to the challenge of dealing with an international market, makes projects like this ripe for the consultative expertise of a savvy independent agent or broker.