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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Sundrop Fuels to Build $450 Million Biofuels Refinery and Create 150 Jobs in Louisiana

11/24/2011
Longmont, Colorado-based Sundrop Fuels Inc. has announced it will build a $450 million biofuels refinery bringing 150 new jobs to Louisiana's Rapides Parish. The average pay per job will be $58,000 (plus benefits), and the project is expected to create about 1,150 indirect jobs in the region.

The proposed project site is located eight miles northwest of Alexandria. The company will build on about 1,200 acres and have space available for future expansion.

CEO Wayne Simmons explained that the facility will provide America with millions of gallons of renewable gasoline and establish our transformative gasification technology while supporting Louisiana's natural gas and sustainable forestry industries. "Our decision to locate in Rapides Parish underscores Louisiana's commitment to the advanced biofuels industry" he said, "and we look forward to our partnership in helping meet the nation's growing energy needs."

Stephen Moret, secretary of Louisiana Economic Development, applauded Sundrop's technology as it "produces green fuels, without subsidies, that can successfully compete with conventional gasoline refined from crude oil."

Specifically, the biofuels plant will produce up to 50 million gallons of fuel a year. This fuel represents the world's first renewable green gasoline that is immediately adaptable to existing pumps, pipelines, engines and transportation infrastructure. By 2020, Sundrop expects to produce more than 1 billion gallons of renewable fuel annually; a feat meeting almost 10 percent of the federal government's stated goal for renewable fuels refined from cellulosic material and other alternatives to crude oil.

The state has offered Sundrop Fuels performance-based grants for building and financing costs ($14 million over 10 years), as well as $4.5 million to reimburse R&D relocation costs. The company also will receive workforce development, and is expected to use Louisiana's Quality Jobs, Industrial Tax Exemption and Research & Development Tax Credit programs. Moreover, Sundrop will apply for a private activity bond allocation of $330 million (or greater).

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