BDO ZoneCONNECT Webinar: Greenview and Grande Prairie, Alberta, & Natchez, Mississippi

BDO ZoneCONNECT Webinar: Greenview and Grande Prairie, Alberta, & Natchez, Mississippi

On February 1st, 2024, Ecostrat Inc., in collaboration with The Daily Digest, hosted the BDO ZoneCONNECT webinar, showcasing two prominent BDO Zone communities in North America: the Municipal District of Greenview and the County of Grande Prairie, Alberta, as well as Natchez, Mississippi. The one-hour event provided an in-depth exploration of biomass opportunities, highlighting prime locations in the US and Canada for pioneering bioeconomy projects.

The MD of Greenview and County of Grande Prairie, AB, received a BDO Zone ‘A’ rating for Woody Biomass, while Natchez, MS, earned a BDO Zone ‘AA’ rating for the same feedstock category. The webinar discussed feedstock availability and infrastructure assets, elevating these regions as prime destinations for bio-based projects requiring a reliable supply of woody biomass.

BDO ZoneCONNECT, a joint initiative with The Daily Digest, aims to facilitate connections and stimulate development interest within BDO Zone communities. It serves as a catalyst for networking, sharing new BDO Zone ratings, and attracting a diverse global audience of stakeholders, including investors, bio-based project developers, financiers, and community leaders.

The webinar was moderated by Jim Lane, Editor of TheDigest. Jordan Solomon, President & CEO of Ecostrat and Chairman of the BDO Zone Initiative, introduced the key attributes of both BDO Zones and delved into the significance of their ‘investment grade’ ratings. Insights from Kyle Reiling, Executive Director of the Greenview Industrial Gateway, AB; Jordan Tidey, Director of Economic Development at the County of Grande Prairie, AB; and Chandler Russ, Executive Director of Natchez Inc., MS, provided a comprehensive exploration of their regions, spotlighting biomass resources, numerous project-ready sites, strong infrastructure, and lucrative tax incentives. The presentations also shed light on why they actively pursued a BDO Zone designation and underscored why these locations are ideally suited for new bio-based project development, particularly for those requiring a stable, long-term biomass supply.

Summary of Presenter Remarks

Jordan Solomon, Chairman, BDO Zone Initiative:

• “The BDO Zone rating is certifying regional readiness for biomanufacturing, they are designed to drive deal flow and help project developers find new locations for their plants.”
• “These are two exceptional places to site plants for a whole bunch of reasons, biomass availability for one but in terms of the infrastructure available, I’ve rarely seen two places that are more shovel ready to support an operating plant quite like these ones.”

Mahmood Ebadian, Director of Advisory Services, Ecostrat Inc.:

• “For these BDO Zone projects we looked at 72 risk indicators to evaluate whether or not these regions are capable of accommodating a commercial scale bio based project. We have a commercial amount of underutilized biomass in these regions. This is low risk biomass that is ready to go.”
• “The MD of Greenview and County of Grande Prairie has a long history of a pulp and paper industry, this is a huge asset as these industries are processing high value logs and leaving behind residue that can be utilized for biobased projects.”

Kyle Reiling, Executive Director, Greenview Industrial Gateway:

• “The MD of Greenview is a very large area that is gifted with natural resources.”
• “The Greenview Industrial Gateway is a 2000 acre parcel of land that is heavily industrial zoned. Not only are you sitting on this feedstock but I have spent the last three years fully designing this facility, including a fully designed road, direct natural gas into the TC mainline.”
• “This industrial site is fully engineered and ready go for biomass proponents, we have permitted this land use within biomass, because we are the owner of the land and authority, we can do the sub division in a matter of days.”
• “There is a corridor dedicated to CN Rail, CN Rail is such a buyer-believer to this concept that it’s one of thirteen in North America with a fully audited industrial classification.”

Chandler Russ, Executive Director, Natchez Inc.:

• “We do have major commitments in biomass and green fuels on the table, as Velocys has committed to a $2 billion project in the area.”
• “There is a large space south of the industrial property we call the River Ridge property, over 800 acres available. It was formerly an industrial paper mill so the infrastructure is already in place.”
• “From a transportation standpoint, the Natchez railway serves the area, we recently just completed $17 million in upgrades to the line that connects with the Canadian National Mainline.”
• “In March of 2023 we received our “AA” rating, since then we have had great response from interested parties looking to capitalize and take advantage of the natural resources in the area. 4 million bdt per year of woody biomass is huge for the sector.”
• “The international paper facility that operated for 50 years was consuming about 3.6 million tons of fiber a year when it shut down in 2003. We’ve had other mills in the wood basket shut down. Estimated over 5.5 million tons that were being taken out of the wood basket for 50 years that is currently not being taken out today. Since this shutdown the forests have also gotten about 12% larger.”

For additional details on the MD of Greenview and County of Grande Prairie, AB, BDO Zone, please click here, and for information about the Natchez, MS, BDO Zone, click here.

Contact Information:

Stacey Sevilla, Manager, Marketing and Communications, Municipal District of Greenview (stacey.sevilla@mdgreenview.ab.ca).

Kyle Reiling, BDO Zone Local Development Leader (LDL) and Executive Director, Greenview Industrial Gateway (GIG) (kyle.reiling@mdgreenview.ab.ca).

Hetti Huls, BDO Zone Local Development Leader (LDL) and Economic Development Officer, County of Grande Prairie (hhuls@countygp.ab.ca).

Natchez Inc.: The BDO Zone Local Development Leaders (LDL) are Chandler Russ, Executive Director (cruss@natchezinc.com) and Aimee Guido, Project Manager (aguido@natchezinc.com).

Aryn Garswood, Head of the BDO Zone Initiative (aryn@ecostrat.com).

Originally published at bdozone.org.