Allegany, New York Issued BDO Zone 'A' Rating for Woody Biomass
Allegany, New York Issued BDO Zone 'A' Rating for Woody Biomass
– Allegany County Named New York's First BDO Zone, Earns 'A' Rating for Woody Biomass –
Allegany County, New York – picture by Alexander Pingitore
August 25, 2026 – Allegany County Industrial Development Agency, Ecostrat and the BDO Zone Initiative are pleased to announce the issue of a BDO Zone ‘A’ Rating for Allegany County, New York. The BDO Zone is rated for 300,000 bone dry tons per year of low-risk woody biomass and spans a 75-mile drive radius from its central point in Belmont, NY.
Allegany County’s ‘A’ rating reflects strong prospective viability of Feedstock Supply and Infrastructure, with low expectations of default risk in the Zone. The region offers abundant pulpwood and forest residues backed by sufficient logging and transportation capacity to serve a new commercial-scale facility. Complementing this feedstock base is a strong anchor site in the Wellsville Business Park, a 22-acre general industrial property located about 10 miles from Interstate 86, offering on-site municipal electric, natural gas, and water service, along with substantial transformer capacity inherited from the site’s history as a heavy industrial steam turbine testing facility. The site’s direct rail connection via the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad, linking to Class I carriers Norfolk Southern and CSX, further strengthens its appeal, making Allegany County a standout candidate for biobased industrial investment.
Craig Clark, Executive Director of ACIDA, stated, “This ‘A’ rating confirms what we’ve long known: Allegany County has the raw material base, the site readiness, and the workforce depth to support a major biobased facility. Between our working forests and the Wellsville Business Park’s built-in industrial infrastructure, we’re offering developers a low-risk path to getting a project online quickly.”
Jordan Solomon, Chairman of the BDO Zone Initiative, stated, “Allegany County brings together a sustainably managed hardwood resource base and a former heavy-industrial site already equipped with power, water, and rail. That combination of feedstock depth and infrastructure readiness is what developers are looking for when siting a new biobased facility.”
To see the full BDO Zone Rating for Allegany County, NY, please click here, or visit www.bdozone.org.
About The BDO Zone Initiative
The Biofuel Development Opportunity (BDO) Zone Initiative certifies ‘regional readiness’ for bio-manufacturing, creates global connections and ignites an influx of new energy opportunities for farmers, economic developers, and rural businesses. A BDO Zone rating is an internationally recognized, standards-based technical risk assessment of a region’s feedstock, supply chain, and infrastructure risk with respect to the development potential for new biofuel plants. BDO Zone ratings are site location bullseyes for bio-project development. Investment grade ratings are force-multipliers for attracting new manufacturing plants to the areas where they are most likely to succeed, drive investment and create jobs.
For more information on the BDO Zone Initiative, contact info@bdozone.org. To view all BDO Zone ratings, visit www.bdozone.org. Check out the BDO Zone LinkedIn page for news and updates.
Ecostrat is the North American leader in biomass due diligence for biofuels, renewable chemicals, biogas, and bio-product project development and finance. Jordan Solomon is Chairman of the BDO Zone Initiative and President of Ecostrat (www.ecostrat.com). He can be reached at jordan.solomon@ecostrat.com.
About the ACIDA
The ACIDA is a public benefit corporation of the State of New York, established to provide financial incentives and infrastructure support to foster economic development. Its mission is to make Allegany County the place of choice for locating, residing, and working by managing growth, protecting agricultural resources, and supporting local business expansion. Media contact: Craig R. Clark, Ph.D., P.E. Executive Director, Allegany County Industrial Development, 585-449-2047, Craig.Clark@alleganyco.gov.