BDO ZoneCONNECT Webinar:

BDO ZoneCONNECT Webinar:

Canton, South Dakota | Preston County, West Virginia
Cavalier County, North Dakota

September 17, 2026 – Ecostrat Inc. and the BDO Zone Initiative hosted the BDO ZoneCONNECT webinar, highlighting three investment grade BDO Zone communities in North America: Canton, South Dakota, rated ‘A’ for Corn Stover, Preston County, West Virginia, rated ‘A’ for Woody Biomass, and Cavalier County, North Dakota, rated ‘A’ for Canola Seed.

The webinar was moderated by Ryan Magwood, Head of Business Development for the BDO Zone Initiative, and featured the following speakers:

• Tyler Tordsen, President & CEO, Sioux Metro Growth Alliance, Canton, South Dakota
• Roberta Baylor, Executive Director, Preston County Economic Development Authority, Preston County
• Shelby Johnson, Assistant Director, Preston County Economic Development Authority, Preston County
• Matt Borror, Regional Manager, West Virginia Department of Economic Development, Preston County
• Shannon Duerr, Executive Director, Cavalier County Job Development Authority, Cavalier County
• Steven Zimmer, Board Member, Cavalier County Job Development Authority, Cavalier County

The webinar underscored the regions’ abundant biomass resources, robust infrastructure, shovel-ready sites, and attractive local incentives, positioning these BDO Zones as prime locations for bio-based projects seeking a reliable, long-term supply of biomass feedstock.

BDO ZoneCONNECT facilitates connections and stimulates development interest within BDO Zone communities. The series serves as a catalyst for networking, introduces new BDO Zone ratings to the market, and engages a diverse global audience of stakeholders, including investors, bio-based project developers, financiers, and community leaders.

To view the webinar, please click below:

Summary of Presenter Remarks

Tyler Tordsen, President & CEO, Sioux Metro Growth Alliance, Canton, South Dakota:

• “We [Canton, South Dakota] have some of the best tax and business climate anywhere in the country, no personal income tax, no corporate income tax; plus, incentive programs at the local and state level depending on the type of industry or business.”
• “We’ve seen a lot of investment from outside companies — outside of South Dakota, even foreign investment — into our industrial parks, given the regulatory environment, the business and tax climate, and the access to decision makers and elected officials. It’s been a huge driver as to why people are choosing South Dakota and the Sioux Metro region to do business.”
• “Our people are second to none. We’re the land of great faces, great places — phenomenal communities, a lot of opportunity, a lot of connections, and really, really good people.”

Matt Borror, Regional Manager, WV Department of Economic Development, Preston County:

• “If you create a new corporate headquarters in the state of West Virginia and create 15 new jobs, you get 100% tax liability… passed through for up to 13 years — that’s a very significant opportunity for companies relocating their headquarters to West Virginia.”

Robbie Baylor, Executive Director, Preston County Economic Development Authority, Preston County:

• “This is where Preston County really shines. We have been successful in partnering with business and industry multiple times… We’ve leveraged infrastructure grants for several companies — $250,000 for Allegheny Wood Products to expand natural gas to their dry kilns, almost a million dollars to extend sewer and gas to another manufacturer.”
• “We are the third most forested state, and that means an abundant resource is available for someone looking at our area. We have industrial sites ready to go, competitive operating costs, and direct access to East Coast markets.”

Shelby Johnson, Assistant Director, Preston County Economic Development Authority, Preston County:

• “We have a few small sawmills in Preston County, a dry kiln, a pellet mill… a hardwood flooring manufacturer, and we also have a mulch company that uses the biomass and pulpwood for their operations. We are pleased to be a part of the West Virginia Hardwood Alliance Zone.”

Shannon Duerr, Executive Director, Cavalier County Job Development Authority, Cavalier County:

• “While we’re very much a rural agricultural county, we’re connected by highway and rail to both U.S. and Canadian markets. And that location puts us in the heart of one of the most productive agricultural regions in the country.”
• “One of the advantages we have in North Dakota is a fairly unique set of economic-development tools. Probably the best example is the Bank of North Dakota — the only state-owned bank in the country — which works in partnership with local lenders and communities to support economic development.”
• “A project locating here isn’t simply just locating close to a source of feedstock. It would be locating in the middle of an established agricultural ecosystem — with experienced producers and the businesses, infrastructure, research and services that support production agriculture. Agriculture is what we do, and we’ve been doing it very well for generations.”

Steven Zimmer, Board Member, Cavalier County Job Development Authority, Cavalier County:

• “Especially now with the state of the world and the price of inputs — fertilizer, fuel, and all of the expenses increasing so fast — it gives producers a local area, an additional local market, to sell their canola to. That’s a big advantage for any type of commodity. You see it in soybeans and corn with ethanol, and this would be the same thing for canola producers in our area.”

For more information on the Canton, South Dakota BDO Zone, click here, and for their slide deck, click here.

For more information on the Preston County, West Virginia BDO Zone, click here, and for their slide deck, click here.

For more information on the Cavalier County, North Dakota BDO Zone, click here, and for their slide deck, click here.

To view all BDO Zone ratings, visit www.bdozone.org.

BDO Zone Project Development Support:

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.

About Ecostrat

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.

Originally published at bdozone.org.