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Rubert Fraser, CEO of Fibrowatt, addresses representatives from Surry, Sampson and Montgomery counties Tuesday in Raleigh.
After nearly three hours on the road, the group stepped off the bus in Raleigh to meet with representatives from Sampson and Montgomery counties. All parties involved were interested in motivating state legislators to bring jobs to their counties via Fibrowatt.
Fibrowatt, a company which generates renewable energy from poultry litter, has announced that it had chosen a site offered by Surry County near Elkin to build a new biomass-fueled power plant. The plant will offer poultry growers an important alternative for the management of poultry litter in western North Carolina, according to the company and its supporters. Company representatives said the power plant will not only use “green technology,” but it will be using a renewable resource.
Rubert Fraser, CEO of Fibrowatt, greeted the group in Raleigh and asked for its support as the representatives moved through the offices of state senators and representatives. After the group found its way through the maze of state offices, Fraser said that he was pleased with efforts by all three counties.
“We’ve been very pleased by the level of support, about 120 have turned up, not only county elected officials, but also residents and industry people — people who care about these projects. They’ve come here to show that these are their projects. They want these projects in their communities because of the benefits that power from poultry litter can bring to the local poultry industry, local community and local employment,” Fraser said.
According to Fraser, the North Carolina Legislature passed a bill two years ago which requires the state to produce up to 12 percent of its electricity from renewable resources.
“Now North Carolina is perhaps not as rich as some of the western states are in solar resources or wind power resources, but one thing it sure has a lot of is bio-mass. And clearly agricultural residue such as chicken litter are a very useful source of bio-mass, they are a resource which is North Carolina’s own. They are a by-product of one of North Carolina’s most important industries — the poultry industry, and they are also a way to make that industry more sustainable by taking its by-product and treating it in a very environmentally conscious, bio-secure way to generate electricity and also produce, as a by-product, the ash as a very rich fertilizer — recycle the nutrients in the poultry litter and transport them perhaps to areas where those nutrients are really needed.”
Mount Airy City Commissioners Deborah Cochran and Dean Brown also went on the trip Tuesday.
“Commissioner Dean Brown and I wanted to show our personal support. We need this investment. We need jobs. Today, we had an opportunity to assure legislators that we want this project and many others,” Cochran said. “Wayne Poultry is the largest industrial employer in Surry County. Fibrowatt turns chicken litter into electricity. This project will help North Carolina meet its renewable energy goals as well.”
Fraser said a power plant in Surry County could materialize as soon as 2012.
“It’s been nearly four years that we have been talking to folks in Surry County about the project, and we’ve been talking to people in Montgomery and Sampson County. The process of opening these plants is sometimes a very slow one, sometimes it is a very frustrating process. We are ready to go, we are ready to start the process of applying for the official air permits, construction permits. We are ready to work with local and state regulators, we hope that if we can get one of the other structural and contractual requirements to put this project in place, and finish in the next few months, then we would be able to start the permitting this year, get the permits next year and start the construction in 2010. That would mean that the plant could start up in late 2012,” Fraser said.
Laurette Leagon, president and CEO of the Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce, who took the trip down to Raleigh yesterday said she enjoyed talking with others about bringing jobs to Surry County.
“This is my second time visiting the legislative building. It was very informative. I learned a lot about Fibrowatt listening to the others as they were pleading the case. It was a very worthwhile experience. We got to sit down and talk with Sen. Don East. He was very open to hear more about it. He certainly understands our employment situation in our county,” Leagon said.
“The greatest challenge that we have in Elkin right now is that we have got to get some jobs. Vaughan-Bassett laid off 400 employees in January. Fibrowatt is not going to replace those jobs, but it is a start. I would like to think as we move forward in the future that there will be suppliers for Fibrowatt that we can entice to come to Elkin, Surry County area,” Leagon added.
One area farmer on the trip said his biggest concern was fertilizer. He said the major components of chicken litter as a fertilizer is phosphorous and potassium. He said at the end of the day, he was reassured that the ash that Fibrowatt produces will contain those nutrients and they would be sold back to the community.
“I learned a lot. They answered a lot of my questions. My biggest concern was the fertilizer thing. As long as Fibrowatt doesn’t go around behind the farmers and try to buy the chicken litter from companies from Wayne’s Farms, Tyson and Perdue, then I’m OK with it,” Josh Watson said.
Elkin City Schools Superintendent Dr. Randy Bledsoe said the trip to Raleigh was a learning experience.
“It was a good day to be green,” Bledsoe smiled. “I thought it was very informative. I enjoyed listening to the founder of the company, Rupert Fraser. I like that he took the environmental approach and sharing information about his company and the success that they have had not only in the United Kingdom, but in Minnesota. He was eager to share names of business people in Minnesota, but of people who are neighbors, either in houses or companies — the positive experience in their town. It was very enlightening.
“We have got to find ways to continue further the economic development of Surry County, and this may be one viable option. I do understand that there are concerns in our community about this company, but hopefully through gathering of this information — being able to share this information and also research, that we will know more about it and be able to make a great decision, of what is in the best interest of our communities and our county,” Bledsoe concluded.
Mount Airy City Schools Superintendent Dr. Darrin Hartness, who was seated directly across from Bledsoe on the coach, said education is essential to recruiting new industries to the county.
“The reason I wanted to participate today is that we have had conversations with the Surry County Economic Development Partnership about ways that K-12 can support economic development. I believe that foundation to economic development and quality recruiting efforts include having an educated workforce. That’s our job to produce an educated workforce. That’s why I’m here to show our support,” Hartness said.
“I think Fibrowatt made a decision to come to Surry County, because they saw the many factors in place and one of those is a quality education system. We are fortunate to have three excellent school systems in Surry County,” he continued. “We want potential business owners to know when they move here, their children and their employees’ children will receive a quality education. They also want them to know that the students graduating from our public school systems are prepared to either enter the workforce or to continue their education.”
Surry County Commissioner Paul Johnson also said he was pleased with the trip to Raleigh.
“I thought that it was a good trip. We had a good delegation of people. I thought that the legislators and senators were all very positive. We didn’t talk to anybody that was negative. They all told us they would do what they could to help us and move the project along,” Johnson said.
Contact Mondee Tilley at mtilley@mtairynews.com or at 719-1930.
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