GREENFIELD — Perseverance was the theme of a Tuesday morning gathering to celebrate the long-anticipated launch of Northeast Biodiesel.
The worker- and consumer-owned cooperative started production at its 1.75 million-gallon-a-year plant this week, producing fuel using recycled vegetable oil from restaurants and catering facilities around the state. This will help replace petroleum-based fuels and oil heating systems.
“This is a feel-good product for the environment,” said General Manager Rick Durepo. “It’s sustainable; it’s the right thing to do.”
Northeast Biodiesel closed on $1.3 million in start-up loans, allowing the factory to commence operation, according to Sam Bartlett, chair of the company’s board of directors. Launch financing included $500,000 from MassDevelopment, $650,000 from The Life Initiative community investment fund, $75,000 from the Franklin County Community Development Corp., $75,000 from the Local Enterprise Assistance Fund (LEAF), and $64,000 from the Cooperative Fund of New England.
Common Good, a nonprofit non-bank financial institution for community empowerment; Rudolf Steiner Foundation, a donor-advised fund; and 104 local lenders and investors provided earlier contributions.
“Western Massachusetts will soon have low-carbon, clean-burning, locally manufactured fuel for heating and transportation,” Bartlett told a gathering of lenders, legislators, worker-owners and consumer-owners outside the factory, which is situated in the Interstate 91 Industrial Park, on Tuesday morning.
The venture to build a factory was first announced in 2004 by then-U.S. Rep. John W. Olver — who secured a $300,000 renewable energy grant to get the project rolling — during a press conference at the Cooperative Development Institute’s Federal Street headquarters.
Although the plant anticipated opening in 2018, financing fell short.
“What you see here, and behind me, and all the people who were involved in getting to this day is the very essence of perseverance,” said Mayor Roxann Wedegartner, speaking to the worker-owners, lenders and other community leaders in the audience. “They have done nothing but persevere with that eye on that prize.”
State Rep. Susannah Whipps, I-Athol, said she spoke on behalf of the entire delegation Tuesday morning, congratulating the team behind Northeast Biodiesel.
“As the mayor said — perseverance and not giving up,” she said. “To know that we have some incredibly smart people in this area who are doing their very best to make sure we are decarbonizing, and we are providing more for our people and more for our planet. … We have to look out for future generations. We have to do everything we can to make sure we leave this planet healthy and vibrant for future generations.”
Amine Benali, managing director with the Local Enterprise Assistance Fund, echoed these sentiments.
“Perseverance is what attracted me to this project,” Benali said.
He said the commitment of the community was also a key factor in the lending program’s decision to support Northeast Biodiesel.
“The hard work is really just starting,” Benali said. “But we would be wrong not to recognize the commitment of the community.”
Lynn Benander, president of Northeast Biodiesel, credited Benali and Emily Kawano, co-director of Wellspring Cooperative, in particular, for the “wisdom and foresight” they brought to the planning process.
“After 15 years, in 2018, we kind of lost faith in ourselves,” Benander said. “We’re here today because we were able to have faith in ourselves again. … Amine and Emily looked at it from the outside and said this is a viable business. … We are all so grateful to Amine, to Emily and Wellspring, for helping us keep the faith.”
Thomas Ratte, one of the eight worker-owners, referred to the plant on Silvio O. Conte Drive a “test site.”
“This could happen anywhere,” said Ratte, who also serves as president of the worker-owner cooperative. “It’s really great to be on the front end of that.”
Catherine Ratté, director of land use and environmental planning with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, said Northeast Biodiesel is paving the way toward decarbonization.
“I can’t quantify how much this is going to replace in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, because it’s just a small amount at the start,” said Ratté, who is not related to Thomas. “But the fact of building a worker-owned cooperative that produces biodiesel shows how to do it for everybody else in the country, everybody else in the world. … Northeast Biodiesel has laid out the pathway.”
An earlier version of this story left out one of the earlier contributors to Northeast Biodiesel. Common Good, a nonprofit non-bank financial institution for community empowerment, also contributed funding.
Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrn e.