The vitality of many rural communities and standard of living for their citizens often depend on the jobs available. Quality jobs lead to economic development capable of supporting and sustaining the resources communities require to support their local population. Today, more and more rural communities have seen the biodiesel industry bring jobs and revenue into small towns.
One such community is Gilman, Illinois, a small town in the northeastern part of the state with a population of 1,900. Here, Incobrasa Industries, Ltd., a local crushing facility and biodiesel plant, uses all U.S. soybean oil to make its biodiesel. The company serves as a major employer by supporting over 150 jobs for area residents and creating additional soybean value for local farmers.
“Biodiesel helps our plant continue to be profitable by providing a market for soybeans,” says Kerry Fogarty, Incobrasa’s Quality Control Manager. “The continued operation of a crushing facility is incumbent upon outlet market for both the meal and the oil produced.”
Fogarty says the plant has 30 million gallons in annual production capacity.
“To put this in a local perspective, keeping the plant operational means that Incobrasa will buy enough soybeans from local elevators to crush 70,000 bushels per day,” he explains. “That is well over 1,000 acres of soybeans a day– all from a 50-mile radius.”
Fueling Opportunity
According to data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. biodiesel production for 2014 is expected to match 2013’s production. In the first nine months of the year, the industry produced approximately 1.13 billion gallons.
“The biodiesel industry is again at a critical point,” says Fogarty. “We’d like to see it continue to grow and provide opportunities for the tens of thousands of people that work in this industry and the countless farmers whose soybeans feed many of the nation’s biodiesel plants, but that isn’t always guaranteed with the current state of the industry. We must be mindful of the climate around renewable fuels.”
What does 1.13 billion gallons of biodiesel mean in terms of employment? As the biodiesel industry continues to grow, it supports jobs in places like Mason City, Iowa; Mexico, Missouri; and Beatrice, Nebraska, to name just a few.
Currently the biodiesel industry helps maintain more than 60,000 U.S. jobs and $2.6 billion in wages, adding up to $16.8 billion in total economic impact, much of which benefits small, rural communities.
“With the plant’s success, we are able to hire more people and continue to expand,” says Fogarty. “Today, in our facility, we provide a wide variety of jobs ranging from our plant operators to chemical engineers.”
From 2014 into the Future
The biodiesel industry has something for everyone in terms of careers, providing jobs that might otherwise not be available in smaller communities. These opportunities include highly skilled jobs, such as scientists, chemists and lab assistants to oversee chemical blending and engineers to facilitate each plant’s research and development.
The average job in the industry pays $43,000 a year — on par with the national average and favorable in these communities. Industry success translates to local success, Fogarty says.
“Our ability to provide demand for soybean farmers and jobs for the local area depends on the strength of the biodiesel industry,” ends Fogarty. “Instability in the industry can impact our future investments, job creation and returns to the community.”
Source:unitedsoybean.org