FORKS — U.S. Bioenergy Corp.’s top official said Friday that the company is leaning towards building the first of its five planned bioenergy plants in the Forks area.
The Brookings, S.D.-based company’s chief operating officer, Roland Fjallstrom, also said he will know July 15 whether the company was able to secure a major private investment in the $100 million range to pay for its patented, self-sustaining mills.
“So far Clallam County looks very good,” Fjallstrom said.
Each proposed mill will cost between $75 million and $125 million to build and will create between 100 to 225 jobs, depending on the size of the plant, he added.
Company officials spent a week in February scoping out the West End and meeting with city, county and state officials about their plans to build co-generation mills that would utilize small forest waste to create wood planks and energy.
Forks resource rich
One of the benefits of the Forks area to U.S. Bioenergy is its proximity to raw material — namely small branches, tops of trees and slash created by the thinning of forests — needed by such a mill.
A decision on whether the company was coming to Forks was supposed to have come months ago.
However, Fjallstrom said it has taken longer because they decided to pursue private capital and abandon venture capital as a means to fund the company.
“We were ready to go two months ago with a venture capital firm,” Fjallstrom said.
“But with private capital, we have much better control over the business.”