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St. Louis Business & Technology News
"When you think Saint Louis, think Saint Louis Front Page," a weekly publication covering the news and events in the greater St. Louis area. 
How To Reach Us:St. Louis Front Page P.O. Box 1354 St. Louis, MO 63188 Voice: 314-771-0200 Fax: 314-771-0300 To submit news, contact: editor@slfp.com To advertise, contact: advertising@slfp.com |
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Missouri New Markets Program Creates 'Green' Jobs at Two Companies in Rural Missouri ST. LOUIS (PRNewswire), November 30, 2008 - The Missouri New Markets Development program is responsible for a new round of financing for two "green" businesses in rural Missouri. Carbolytic Materials Co. in Maryville and Producers' Choice Soy Energy, LLC in Moberly have received a total of $21.9 million in financing from Advantage Capital Partners. The funding was made possible through state and federal tax programs designed to stimulate growth in underserved communities. Carbolytic Materials Co., the first company to successfully commercialize a carbon black alternative suitable for industrial use from scrap tires, has received $12.4 million of state and federal New Markets funding, as part of a total $17.5 million project financing. The company uses its licensed technology to create ApexCM(TM), a lower cost, environmentally friendly alternative to carbon black that is extracted from existing rubber products. "In these tough economic times, it is critical that we have the tools like Missouri New Markets to support small business development and job creation," said Lee Langerock, executive director for Nodaway County Economic Development. "The Missouri New Markets initiative prioritized by the Missouri General Assembly is creating a positive impact in rural areas as well as the state's major cities. We're especially pleased to have this investment in the Maryville community." "Despite the startup, project-finance nature of the company, Advantage Capital was able to provide a very high percentage of the total funding needed, which filled a financing gap and enabled the project to move forward," said Jeremy Degenhart, senior vice president at Advantage Capital. "This level of financing simply would not have been possible, for any lender, without the benefit of the Missouri New Markets Development Program." Carbolytic will use the funds to build its Maryville manufacturing facility where it will process more than 15,000 tons of used tires annually to create Apex CM, which can be used for hoses, gaskets, belts, roofing material, plastic piping, sheeting plastic and more. The facility will create at least 21 new permanent jobs, with salaries that are above county average, and an additional 25 construction jobs. Carbolytic recently began construction of the new facility and celebrated with a groundbreaking event on Thursday, November 6. The manufacturing plant is expected to be completed by June 2009. "Carbolytic Materials is developing carbon black technologies that will have a positive impact on the economy and environment," said Ray Riek, CEO of Carbolytic Materials. "Our recycled carbon black product singlehandedly reduces the landfill use of tires, dependency on foreign oil, and CO2 emissions." In another direction towards "green" jobs, Missouri's New Markets Development program was instrumental in providing a $9.5 million construction loan to Producers' Choice Soy Energy, LLC as part of a $17 million total alternative energy project. The funding from Advantage Capital will be used to support the construction and operational needs of a soybean processing plant and a biodiesel production facility in Moberly, Mo. "I'm proud to have supported the New Markets program because it is helping to create jobs and economic growth in our community," said Rep. Therese Sander, who represents the Moberly area. "The demand for biodiesel is growing as it is a renewable fuel that will have a substantial impact on our nation's energy independence," Louis Dubuque, managing director at Advantage Capital added. "This investment will stimulate economic growth in rural Missouri with new state-of-the-art facilities." The soybean crush will provide up to 250 tons of soybeans daily for biodiesel conversion, as well as 65,000 tons of extruded soybean meal each year. Other byproducts such as glycerin and soybean hulls will be sold primarily in Missouri. When fully operational, the biodiesel plant will produce five million gallons of biodiesel annually in its initial phase. Site construction is currently underway and the new facilities are expected to open in early 2009. "This locally-owned project sits in the heart of Missouri's soybean belt," said Jim Beckley, Board Chair at Producers' Choice. "The investment will provide employment opportunities in our rural community with the addition of 24 new jobs." Advantage Capital's investment in both Carbolytic and Producers' Choice was made possible in connection with the federal New Markets Tax Credit and Missouri New Markets Development Programs. Both programs are designed to stimulate economic growth in communities that historically have been underserved by traditional sources of capital. Seventy-Six Percent of Auto Supplier Executives Favor GM Bailout ST. LOUIS (PRNewswire), November 30, 2008 - In a spot survey last week of 270 supplier executives representing 185 companies, 76 percent said they support a federal government bailout of General Motors. Without it, they said they'd have to downsize or close, resulting in over 275,000 people losing jobs at their companies. While the survey focused on GM, 71 percent also favored government support for Ford Motor Company, but only 54 percent felt Chrysler deserved help. Overall, 41 percent of the suppliers indicated that GM troubles could be attributed to top management, 40 percent to the UAW, and 19 percent to the federal government itself. The Pulse Survey was undertaken by Planning Perspectives, a Birmingham Michigan consultancy that specializes in buyer-supplier relations in the automotive and other industries. It was conducted Nov 20-21 and included suppliers headquartered in 12 Midwestern and Southern states. The top three reasons why suppliers favored a GM bailout were the following: -- 34% felt that the potential negative economic impact of a GM failure on the country is too great to allow to happen -- 25% felt that the automotive industry deserves rescue just like the financial industry -- Nearly 20% indicated that bankruptcy is not a viable option for GM When the 24% of the suppliers who did not favor a GM federal government bailout were asked why they opposed the bailout, they gave the following responses: -- 35% said that bankruptcy is a better option than a Government bailout, principally because GM could renegotiate labor contracts and rid itself of unnecessary dealerships without concern for state franchise laws -- 35% felt that GM would get into financial trouble again and need more money -- 12% felt that the government bailout will have too many strings attached to it In response to what was most likely to happen to their company if GM declared bankruptcy: -- 68% indicated that their company would have to downsize -- 9% said they would more than likely go out of business -- 3% said they definitely would go out of business These 185 suppliers indicated that a GM bankruptcy would result in over 275,000 people losing their jobs at their companies.  
The Saint Louis Front Page is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Saint Louis area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com All rights reserved world wide © 1996 - 2008 Moore Design Group. |
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