BDO ZoneCONNECT Webinar:
BARRY COUNTY, MICHIGAN
& TAZEWELL, VIRGINIA
On January 30, 2024, Ecostrat Inc. and the BDO Zone Initiative, in collaboration with TheDigest, hosted the BDO ZoneCONNECT webinar, highlighting two investment grade BDO Zone communities in North America: Barry County, Michigan, rated ‘A’ for Woody Biomass, and Tazewell, Virginia, also rated ‘A’ for Woody Biomass.
The webinar was moderated by Jim Lane, Editor of TheDigest, and featured key insights from Aryn Garswood, Head of the BDO Zone Initiative. Participants included Nichole Lyke, Economic Development Director of the Barry County Chamber & Economic Development Alliance; Wes Jurey, CEO of the Agricultural Technology Innovation Partnership (ATIP) Foundation; and Scotty Wampler, Executive Director of the Cumberland Plateau Planning District Commission. 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 biobased projects seeking a reliable supply of woody biomass feedstock.
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.
To view the webinar, please click below:
Summary of Presenter Remarks
Bob Buckingham, Project Director, Ecostrat:
- “We took a close look at the local lumber and forestry markets to see what kind of feedstock might be available if a new industry/entrant wanted to move into the area [Barry County]. The results were very encouraging, there’s over 300,000 tons of forestry wood and saw mill residues available that’s being produced annually.”
- “The forest products industry is very solid and has been around for generations. Which really highlights how reliable the supply chain is. There is competition in the area within the BDO Zone where there are biomass consumers including two of the largest biomass power plants in the country. There’s also a series of pellet mills and saw mills, together the current demand is well over 1 million tons of biomass annually. Even with the current demand there’s plenty of feedstock to support new industrial development in the county.”
Nichole Lyke, Economic Development Director, Barry County Chamber & Economic Development Alliance:
- “We have build ready sites in Barry County, including the star school property. This site is in the City of Hastings and is located within a few minutes of the state highway providing easy access to some of the larger municipalities. This site is about 1,400 acres and the city has several incentives that would be advantageous for anyone interested in purchasing the site.”
- “The Hastings Business Park is an industrial park so the focus is on manufacturing and heavy industrial in this area and is just up the road from the star school area. Both the star school property and the business park are located within the city’s opportunity zone so there are additional incentives available.”
Peter Wolf, Project Director, Ecostrat:
- “There’s a lot of material in the Tazewell, Virginia BDO Zone that is currently not being utilized and private land owners are interested in finding new markets.”
- “We have rated 625,000 green tons/year at low-risk, most of this is in the form of low grade roundwood. This relates to the recent closure of two paper mills one across the border in Tennessee and the other in North Carolina. Since 2020 these mills have been shut down so this frees up a lot of the low-grade log wood in the area for new developers. There’s an idle supply chain infrastructure, the chipping yards that were employed in the service of the pulp and paper industry are now looking for new markets.”
Wes Jurey, CEO, Agricultural Technology Innovation Partnership (ATIP) Foundation:
- “We [ATIP Foundation] work nationally, in multiple areas to literally build the bioeconomy from the ground floor up. We’re a non-profit LLC formed in 2011 at the request of the U.S Department of Agriculture.”
- “We really do support rural economic development and more recently urban agricultural development because we help businesses understand and help them access research outcomes, market assessments, patented technology discoveries and at the same time with USDA, we build replicable for advancing the bioeconomy throughout the United States.”
Scotty Wampler, Executive Director, Cumberland Plateau Planning District Commission:
- “We worked on this project [Tazewell BDO Zone] because it not only aligns with our regions legacy concentrations in the energy and manufacturing sectors but it also works to diversify our economic base.”
- “Our region does market multiple robust industrial parks, the Bluestone Regional Business and Technology Park is approximately 600 acres and site ready for new projects and is located near the center of the BDO Zone in Tazewell County.”
For more information on the Barry County, MI, BDO Zone, click here, and for their slide deck, click here.
For more information on the Tazewell, VA, BDO Zone, click here, and for their slide deck, click here.
For more information on the Agricultural Technology Innovation Partnership (ATIP) Foundation, click here, and for their slide deck, click here.
Contact Information:
Nichole Lyke, BDO Zone Local Development Leader (LDL) and Economic Development Director, Barry County Chamber & Economic Development Alliance (nichole@mibarry.com).
Scotty Wampler, BDO Zone Local Development Leader (LDL) and Executive Director, Cumberland Plateau Planning District Commission (swampler@cppdc.org).
Wes Jurey, CEO, Agricultural Technology Innovation Partnership (ATIP) Foundation (wesjurey@gmail.com).
Aryn Garswood, Head of the BDO Zone Initiative (aryn@ecostrat.com).
Go Back