CEDC is the pioneering business services consultant in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. The organization supports hundreds of regional entrepreneurs and businesses, helping them reach their full potential from the startup stage onwards. The CEDC’s efforts to attract, retain, and expand local businesses have fostered a vibrant and thriving startup ecosystem in the area. CEDC provides continuous guidance and tools to empower entrepreneurs throughout the Chippewa Valley. With this in mind the CEDC has spent the last year working with the agricultural community on establishing a BDO Zone for the region. The BDO Zone Initiative certifies regional readiness for bio-based manufacturing, fosters global connections with project developers, and drives the influx of clean energy opportunities. A BDO Zone rating is an internationally recognized, standards-based technical risk assessment of biomass feedstock, supply chain, and infrastructure risk, evaluating the development potential of new biofuel, renewable chemical, biogas, and bioproduct plants. These investment-grade ratings attract entrepreneurs’ involved in establishing bio-based manufacturing plants to the areas with the highest likelihood of success, creating jobs and boosting local economies.
The BDO Zone Initiative has issued a BDO Zone ‘A’ rating for Chippewa County, Wisconsin, for 380,000 bone dry tons per year of corn stover. The Chippewa Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) and Ecostrat are pleased to announce the establishment of a Chippewa BDO Zone and the issuance of an investment-grade ‘A’ Rating for Corn Stover in the Zone. This initiative certifies regional readiness for bio-based manufacturing, creates global connections with project developers, and stimulates clean energy opportunities. The Chippewa County BDO Zone is the first in Wisconsin to receive an ‘A’ rating, extending 75 miles from Chippewa Falls, WI. This internationally recognized, standards-based technical risk assessment evaluates biomass feedstock, supply chain, and infrastructure risk for developing new biofuel, renewable chemical, biogas, and bioproduct plants. The investment-grade rating aims to attract new bio-based manufacturing plants to regions with the highest potential for success. Chippewa County’s BDO Zone ‘A’ rating indicates a highly viable feedstock supply chain and infrastructure, with low default risk expectations in the Zone.
“The ‘A’ rating for Chippewa County highlights our community’s exceptional potential to lead globally in the bioeconomy,” stated Charlie Walker, President/CEO of CEDC. “We look forward to collaborating with bioenergy, biochemical, and bioproduct companies to diversify and expand markets for our agricultural resources. Without Ecostrat’s expertise and the USDA’s support through the Rural Business Development Grant (RBDG), the establishment of Wisconsin’s ‘A’ rating BDO Zone would not have been possible—we are grateful for their partnership in advancing this rural economic development initiative.”
The Chippewa region has a steady increase in grain crops, indicating a positive outlook for corn stover availability, with no established competition within a 150-mile radius of Chippewa Falls, WI. This new Western Wisconsin BDO Zone features trucking access to North America’s largest inland freshwater port, a rail line adjacent to several industrial sites, easy connections to Interstate 94, and a well-maintained local road network providing affordable global market connections. The CEDC is now in the marketing phase of the BDO Zone Initiative and will be at the Wisconsin Farm Technology Days August 13th – 15th to promote our A rating and the program.
Jordan Solomon, Chairman of the BDO Zone Initiative and President of Ecostrat, stated, “As Wisconsin’s first ‘A’ rating, Chippewa County is ideally positioned to support biobased companies seeking prime locations for biomass projects. The BDO Zone highlights their commitment to strategically utilizing corn stover biomass, paving the way for new, sustainable, low-carbon markets in the region.” Ecostrat is the North American leader in biomass due diligence for biofuels, renewable chemicals, biogas, and bioproduct project development and finance.
To see the full BDO Zone Rating for Chippewa County, Wisconsin, please click here or visit www.bdozone.org. For additional information on the BDO Zone Initiative, contact info@bdozone.org or visit www.ecostrat.com.