[Bioconversion] Erie Biodiesel Plant Update

[Jeff Davis]

Dear List,

Below you will find and article from my loacal newspaper:


Jeff

*********************************************************


Investment Fuels Growth

Biofuel plant costs, capacity ballon; parent firm tops 100 employees.

By Kara Rhodes
Erie Times News

Erie Management Group, the upstart company started in 2004 by the son of
an Erie Insurance executive, has reached the 100 employee mark.

Erie Management is the umbrella group for 10 companies, the most
high-profile of which is Lake Erie Biofuels, the $54 million plant being
built on 13 acres of the old International Paper site.

“We crossed over 100 employees last week,” Erie Management President Stan
Shumway said.

More than 80 of the employees are in Erie, he said. Others are in Texas
and Canada, and scattered between Pittsburg and Columbus, Ohio.

Most local employees are based in the old administration building on the
former paper mill site, which has been renamed SB3 Industrial Park, a nod
to Samuel P. “Pat” Black III.

Black, whose father was one of the key players in creating Erie Insurance,
Formed Erie Management Group in 2004 to invest in Erie and the region.

“They’ve become a major player quickly because of the significant
investments they’re making,” said Jake Rouch, the Erie Regional Chamber
and Growth Partnership’s chief executive. “It’s not just job creation that
they’re bringing though. They believe in Erie and they’re investing in
Erie, and that’s an important message.”

One of the first projects Erie Management announced was the biofuel plant.

Then, it was announced that construction would total about $35 million.

But now, cost of construction has ballooned to $54 million, Shumway said.

That’s mostly because the plant will produce 45 million gallons of
biodiesel a year – a 50 percent increase over the original plans.

Also, some changes were made to the manufacturing process, Shumway said.

He said the manufacturing changes were necessary because of Erie’s cold
winters.

A Minnesota biodiesel company developed problems in winter because the
product was congealing.

“They were getting clogged filters.” Shumway said. “Adding an extra step
in the process can prevent that.”

The rest of the increase in construction costs was due to rising prices of
labor and materials such as steel and concrete, he said.

The biodiesel plant will start operating in the early fall of 2007. There
are currently about 75 biodiesel plants scattered across the country.
Another 50 are under construction, according to a story in the New York
Times.

“This will be one of the top 10 producers in the country,” said Brad
Davis, Lake Erie Biofuels president.

Along with the biodiesel plant, Erie Management Group owns:

--- an information technology firm;

--- a manufacturer that uses soybean oil to make wood preservatives;

--- a company developing a fuel device that removes air from diesel fuel; and

--- a company developing a biotoxin detection device.

Other companies include asset management and lending companies, a real
estate development company and a shipping company based in Hamilton,
Ontario.

Erie Management Group believes it will eventually employ 1,200 people in
it’s array of industrial and high-tech businesses.

“For too long some people have thought you can’t grow a business here,”
Rouch said. “Erie Management is helping change that perspective. That’s
why they’re so important to the region – they’re helping people in the
community.”



-- 
Jeff Davis

Some where 20 miles south of Lake Erie, USA