September 16, 2013
Michigan Renewable Carbon has secured $20 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocations from National New Markets Fund, LLC and $2 million from Chase to convert a building at the former Sawyer Air Force Base into a production facility that processes biomass into carbon products.
Decommissioned in 1995, the base is located in Marquette County, which is designated a “severely distressed” census tract with a poverty rate of more than 30% and an unemployment rate of 26%.
“The New Markets Tax Credit program was critical in making this project a reality,” said James Mennell, CEO of Michigan Renewable Carbon. “Without NMTC financing, this prototype facility might not have been completed, and the resulting benefits, including jobs that have already been created, could have been lost.”
The project will process biomass from wood feedstock using new patented technology that dramatically reduces costs and emissions. The resulting carbon products purify air, water, food and pharmaceuticals, refine iron and other metals, and may be used for energy production. Unlike most carbon products, those produced at the facility will be made with renewable energy and created from renewable biomass sourced from suppliers committed to sustainable production.
“Michigan has been hit especially hard by the economic crisis, and it is home to many struggling projects that are ideal for NMTC funding,” said National New Markets Fund President Deborah La Franchi. “Our investment in Michigan Renewable Carbon is a perfect example in that it will not only bring new jobs and related economic activity to a severely distressed rural community, but also serve as a model of efficiency and productivity for the renewable carbon products industry.”
To read more coverage in the Marquette Mining Journal, click here:
https://www.miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/591132/Sawyer-firm-gets-a-boost.html?nav=5006
