It took a few years and a whole lot of dead ends to get the Vanguard Synfuels biodiesel plant in Pollock restarted. Those involved in the project, though, never stopped believing it would get off the ground.
"I never doubted it," said Darrell Dubroc, chief executive officer of Vanguard's parent company, Consolidated Energy Holdings, LLC. "I wish the road could have been a little smoother, but I knew it would happen."
"This is a big day for Pollock," said Mayor Jerome Scott. "To bring 25 good jobs here is great not only for Pollock but Grant Parish and the surrounding parishes. I always felt like this was going to be a successful venture, and you can see today that it will be."
A grand reopening was held Monday for the Vanguard plant, which began producing biodiesel again a couple of weeks ago. Vanguard employs about 25 people.
It was the latest chapter in an up-and-down history of the facility, which Dubroc compared to the biblical figure Lazarus because "it has died and come back a few times."
The plant started in the 1970s producing ammonia before it stopped production about a decade ago. Vanguard -- a group led by local forestry professionals -- bought it in 2003, sold the ammonia-producing assets and repackaged it as a renewable-energy facility.
Vanguard began producing biodiesel with soybean oil because, Dubroc said, "that's how everyone was doing it at the time." Prodcution halted again in 2007 due to the rising cost of the commodity.
When Vanguard officials looked for funding to get the plant producing again, they found mostly frustration. "After beating our heads against the wall seeing everyone we could see about financing," Dubroc said, they finally found a willing partner in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development.
With USDA Rural Development's aid, Vanguard was able to secure a $10.4 million financing package -- some of it grant money, most of it loans from Union Bank.
"This is part of our mission -- improving quality of life and rural development," said Clarence Hawkins, state director of USDA Rural Development. "Energy is a vital part of that."
"These are quality jobs being created that will have a very important effect on the local economy in a rural area," said John Broussard, business and cooperative program director with USDA Rural Development. "And they're taking waste that otherwise who knows where it would get disposed of and making fuel. They're not taking a food chain item and making fuel from it."
The plant is equipped to produce biodiesel from a variety of waste sources, including used oils, grease and animal tallows. Biodiesel burns much cleaner than petroleum diesel. It is often blended with petro diesel (Environmental Protection Agency regulations require refiners to blend a certain percentage of renewables into their petroleum fuels).
Vanguard will sell mostly wholesale but will also supply some local distributors.
Now that the plant is back in production, Consolidated Energy Holdings will move forward putting finishing touches on its facility at the Port of Alexandria.
"I never doubted it," said Darrell Dubroc, chief executive officer of Vanguard's parent company, Consolidated Energy Holdings, LLC. "I wish the road could have been a little smoother, but I knew it would happen."
"This is a big day for Pollock," said Mayor Jerome Scott. "To bring 25 good jobs here is great not only for Pollock but Grant Parish and the surrounding parishes. I always felt like this was going to be a successful venture, and you can see today that it will be."
A grand reopening was held Monday for the Vanguard plant, which began producing biodiesel again a couple of weeks ago. Vanguard employs about 25 people.
It was the latest chapter in an up-and-down history of the facility, which Dubroc compared to the biblical figure Lazarus because "it has died and come back a few times."
The plant started in the 1970s producing ammonia before it stopped production about a decade ago. Vanguard -- a group led by local forestry professionals -- bought it in 2003, sold the ammonia-producing assets and repackaged it as a renewable-energy facility.
Vanguard began producing biodiesel with soybean oil because, Dubroc said, "that's how everyone was doing it at the time." Prodcution halted again in 2007 due to the rising cost of the commodity.
When Vanguard officials looked for funding to get the plant producing again, they found mostly frustration. "After beating our heads against the wall seeing everyone we could see about financing," Dubroc said, they finally found a willing partner in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development.
With USDA Rural Development's aid, Vanguard was able to secure a $10.4 million financing package -- some of it grant money, most of it loans from Union Bank.
"These are quality jobs being created that will have a very important effect on the local economy in a rural area," said John Broussard, business and cooperative program director with USDA Rural Development. "And they're taking waste that otherwise who knows where it would get disposed of and making fuel. They're not taking a food chain item and making fuel from it."
The plant is equipped to produce biodiesel from a variety of waste sources, including used oils, grease and animal tallows. Biodiesel burns much cleaner than petroleum diesel. It is often blended with petro diesel (Environmental Protection Agency regulations require refiners to blend a certain percentage of renewables into their petroleum fuels).
Vanguard will sell mostly wholesale but will also supply some local distributors.
Now that the plant is back in production, Consolidated Energy Holdings will move forward putting finishing touches on its facility at the Port of Alexandria.
