The company made the decision to locate the biomass manufacturing plant in Crisp County after members of its management team met with the Crisp County Industrial Development Council (IDC) earlier this year to discuss their assistance with locating a site for the plant, tax abatements, and various job credits available to Vega if the Company located its plant in their county.
The final decision was made to locate the manufacturing facility in Cordele, GA after learning that the Crisp County/Cordele Industrial Development Authority and Intermodal Services, Inc. were about to complete construction on the new Cordele Inland Port that will service the Port of Savannah, one of the South's largest international shipping ports.
Shipping is a large component of Vega's business and significantly affects the price the company can charge for its products. Bio-coal is much cheaper to ship than other forms of alternative energy such as fuel pellets. Target markets for the company's products are power plants around the world that face mandates to increase biomass usage in their coal burning power plants. Firing bio-coal in traditional coal power plants will not require any retrofitting of existing plants.
Vega Biofuels will also be eligible for port job tax credits for using the Port of Savannah. The proposed site is also located in a Free Port Trade Zone with exemptions on material and inventory destined for shipment out of state from sales, inventory, and advalorem taxes.
"The IDC has been very supportive of our efforts. They have the unique ability to offer things to us that no other county in Georgia can offer," stated Michael K. Molen, Chairman/CEO of Vega Biofuels, Inc. "Once we made the commitment to locate the plant in Crisp County, the IDC has been very supportive with helping us locate a site for the plant, offering free land to us, outlining the various tax benefits of operating our business and creating jobs in their county, and applying for a financial grant from the State of Georgia."
"We are very pleased to have Vega Biofuels choose Cordele for their manufacturing plant. Their job creation will be a shot in the arm for our community and we are very pleased to add another user of the Cordele Inland Port," stated Bub Denham, Chairman of the Cordele Crisp IDC.
According to a recent Forbes Magazine article entitled "America's Best Places For Alternative Energy," the abundance of biomass in Georgia's Bioenergy Corridor ranks third in the nation as a potential source of renewable energy. The article referenced the amount of privately owned forests in Georgia, more than any other state in the country, as a reason for the state's ranking.
Vega also recently announced it has entered into an Agreement with The Timber Group, LLC to provide raw timber waste to the manufacturing facility.
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