July 28, 2011
After sitting idle for a year, Inland Empire Oilseeds LLC managed to restart production at its 8 MMgy canola-based biodiesel facility, including an adjacent canola crushing plant, in Odessa, Wash.

The plant is now under the direction of new general manager, Joel Edmonds, who officially took over the role in April held previously by Steve Starr. The plant resumed production in June and held an open house for industry and community members in July to commemorate the opening. According to Edmonds, the plant will operate with staff that had previously worked there prior to its closure last year.

“They have some really good guys here that already were very practiced in the art of processing biodiesel, so we knew it was just more about bringing a production mentality to the business,” Edmonds told Biodiesel Magazine.

With 19 full-time hired staff already at the plant, Edmonds said he’s also looking to hire two or three more staff members to operate the canola crush facility, which can crush about 90 to 100 tons of canola per day. Edmonds added that he expects the plant to continue operating throughout the remainder of the year in spite of uncertainty surrounding the extension of the federal biodiesel blenders tax credit, which is set to expire in December.

“We’ll be able to run through the end of this year, but we’ll have to see what’s in store for us with the uncertainty of the tax credit,” Edmonds said. “We believe we can still produce biodiesel with or without the tax credit, but it will be a whole lot harder.”

The Inland Empire Oilseeds plant first came online in November 2008. The company is a vertically integrated company and sources its feedstock within Washington and neighboring states of Oregon and Idaho, crushes seed and produces its own biodiesel.

“It also means we can sell vegetable oil to other people instead of converting it to biodiesel ourselves,” Edmonds said, adding that production of biodiesel could ramp up in the winter.

“There are some mandated markets around us that require it and pay premiums for canola,” Edmonds said, “especially in the wintertime as canola methyl esters are preferred over soy-based methyl esters due to its favorable cold flow properties. We’ll probably strategically position ourselves with a few of those key canola contracts in those obligated markets to at least guarantee some minimum volume going through into 2012. Then, we’ll see what the rest has in store for us.”

Bryan Sims, Associate Editor, Biodiesel Magazine

Funds will support economic development in Lincoln County and create 50 new jobs

OLYMPIA – The Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) today announced a $1.2 million public investment targeting business growth and job creation in Lincoln County . At today’s meeting, the board approved a loan to the Odessa Public Development Authority for new infrastructure at the Odessa Industrial Park that will support construction of a new meat production facility for the Cattle Producers of Washington (CPoW).

The new facility will provide a local alternative to out-of-state mass production slaughterhouses and costly long-distance shipping for meat products. Cattle Producers of Washington will invest at least $400,000 in the project and create approximately 50 jobs in the first five years of operation at the facility.

“This local infrastructure investment is a great example of public-private partnership focused on specific community economic development priorities,” said Rogers Weed, director of the Washington State Department of Commerce. “Tools like CERB help rural counties attract jobs and help our state stay competitive even during tough economic times.”

“The CERB funding is a critical piece of this project, multiplying the time, sweat and money invested by family farmers and ranchers to bring locally raised meat to Washington consumers, said Craig Vejraska, CPoW President. “This project has been a dream of CPoW for four years, but we couldn’t get it moving forward until we found the CERB program.”

The release of CERB funds to this project is contingent upon the applicant completing specific pre-contract requirements, such as finalizing other funding sources and obtaining necessary permits.

Since 1982, CERB has committed nearly $150 million to local jurisdictions across the state, an investment generating more than 36,000 jobs. Learn more in CERB’s annual Report to the Washington State Legislature, available on-line at www.commerce.wa.gov/cerb, <http://www.choosewashington.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/CERB/Legislative%20Report.pdf>.

As Washington’s strategic economic development resource, CERB is focused on creating private sector jobs in partnership with local governments by financing public infrastructure improvements. These improvements encourage new business development and expansion. In addition to funding construction projects, CERB provides limited funding for studies that evaluate high-priority economic development projects. Learn more about CERB at www.commerce.wa.gov/cerb . CERB receives administrative support from the Washington State Department of Commerce. For more information on the Department of Commerce, visit www.commerce.wa.gov . For information on locating or expanding a business in Washington visit www.choosewashington.com.