WebinarOct 12, 2023

National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Webinar: Strategic Tools for Bioeconomy Development

On September 26th, 2023, the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) convened the Strategic Tools for Bioeconomy Development webinar, a significant event in the realm of sustainable development. The virtual event was moderated by Jack Morgan, Senior Program Manager for the NADO Research Foundation. The webinar showcased presentations by notable experts in the field and economic development representatives that have taken action to participate in the growing global bioeconomy.

Jordan Solomon, President & CEO of Ecostrat and Chairman of the BDO Zone Initiative, shared valuable insights on the strategic significance of BDO Zone Ratings. He emphasized their dual role: certifying regional readiness for bioenergy manufacturing and fostering global connections with project developers worldwide.

Mark Peck, Shared Stewardship Coordinator at the Lincoln County Port Authority in Libby, Montana, recounted his journey with the BDO Zone Rating. He detailed the rationale behind the town of Libby’s pursuit, highlighting how it propelled significant economic development in their rural area. Notably, Peck underscored the pivotal role played by the BDO Zone Rating in attracting an international biobased project developer from South Korea to invest in the region.

Robert Venables, Executive Director, and Karen Peterson, Biomass Coordinator at the Southeast Conference in Alaska, shared the impactful initiatives taking place in Juneau and the surrounding region. They outlined the region’s potential to lead in the bioeconomy sector and highlighted the strides made to integrate biomass into their strategic plan.

The webinar concluded with remarks from Dr. Karama Neal, Administrator of Rural Business-Cooperative Service at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development. Dr. Neal emphasized the USDA’s role in promoting economic development through a variety of funding programs that can support biobased growth across the country. This collaborative effort showcased a promising future for sustainable development and innovation in the field of the bioeconomy.

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To view the webinar, please click below:

Summary of Key Remarks

Jordan Solomon, Chairman of the BDO Zone Initiative:

“Most communities have no means to quantify and signal regional feedstock and infrastructure risk to stakeholders around the world in a credible manner and as a result, they’re lost…They are lost to biobased development and a BDO Zone rating is just an economic development tool that helps you get found by biobased development companies around the world that are looking for good areas to build their next plant.”
“The initiative certifies regional readiness for bioenergy manufacturing , number one. Number two , it creates global connections with project developers all over the world. It makes the phone ring with real calls, from real biobased developers, who are really looking for a new place to build their next biobased plant.”
“BDO Zones are a good solid tool in your toolkit that help bio-based developers, stakeholders, and capital markets pre-vet and quantify success characteristics. They help connect BDO Zones with more biobased developers and investors around the world than they could possibly ever do on their own. They link zones with a billion dollars of capital and, most importantly, they drive new biobased manufacturing to rural communities where a job created is so important. Many of these are underserved communities that have suffered economic decline, plant closures, and this helps bring jobs back to them. Because where’s the biomass located by and large around this country? Guess where? Rural communities. It helps create jobs.”

Mark Peck, Shared Stewardship Coordinator at the Lincoln County Port Authority:

“I was contacted by our Governor’s office about this BDO Zone project and obviously looked at it with a little bit of skepticism initially. But I got on the phone with Aryn and Jordan and actually left pretty excited and met with our County Commissioners and our Forest Supervisor. Long story short , we put together the funding piece through the Forest Service, the state, and the county.”
“[Libby] was one of the initial wood-based BDO Zone ratings and in August of 2022 received an ‘A’ rating. I think it was October of 2022, just a couple of months later, I was approached by a Korean-owned company, possibly looking at woody biomass for exportation to Asia; both Japan and Korea…Long story short , Mr. Han, who’s the principal out of South Korea, saw that BDO Zone report and he was on a plane to Libby, Montana within less than a month to sit down with us.”
“Nobody just drives through Libby, Montana. We could’ve tried to market ourselves but we’re a very small, rural, county with a population of 20,000. We don’t have a lot of resources and I don’t think we would have been discovered at all had it not been for the BDO Zone rating.”

Dr. Karama Neal, Administrator of Rural Business-Cooperative Service at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development:

“You see, we [USDA Rural Development] have three priorities: we focus on climate change and environmental justice, place-based equity and opportunity, and creating more and better market opportunities. So you can really see a lot of the kinds of ways that the work that we’ve heard about already today aligns with these things. We’re addressing climate change; we’re addressing environmental justice; thinking about place-based equity. We just heard about [Libby, MT], a rural remote area that may not get the kind of attention that it deserves. This kind of investment helps facilitate that kind of interest and of course, more better market opportunities. For agricultural producers, for forest landowners, for others, this is creating market opportunities for them and that’s something we’re really committed to.”
“[The Rural Business Development Grant Program] has been used significantly for folks who are interested in BDO Zones. It is a real sort of workhorse-type program. It can be used in a variety of different types of ways. These include things like market research, feasibility studies, rural business incubators, community economic development, and again a wide range of applicants are eligible for this program; towns, state agencies, higher-ed, non-profit, federally recognized tribes and others.”

Contact Information:

National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), visit www.nado.org. Jack Morgan, Senior Program Manager can be reached at jmorgan@nado.org.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development, visit www.rd.usda.gov. Dr. Karama Neal, Administrator of Rural Business-Cooperative Service can be reached at karama.neal@usda.gov.

Southeast Conference, Alaska, visit www.seconference.org. Robert Venables, Executive Director can be reached at robert@seconference.org.

BDO Zone Initiative, please contact info@bdozone.org. To view all current and upcoming BDO Zone designations, visit www.bdozone.org or check out the BDO Zone LinkedIn page for all news and updates.

Ecostrat, visit the company’s website at www.ecostrat.com/standards or check out the Ecostrat LinkedIn page for all news and updates.

Originally published at ecostrat.com.