BDO ZoneCONNECT Webinar:
CAMERON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
& KEMPER COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI
On May 29th, 2024, Ecostrat Inc. and the BDO Zone Initiative, in collaboration with TheDigest, hosted the BDO ZoneCONNECT webinar, highlighting two investment grade BDO Zone communities in North America: Cameron County, Pennsylvania, and Kemper County, Mississippi, both rated ‘A’ for Woody Biomass.
The webinar was moderated by Jim Lane, Editor of TheDigest, and featured key insights from Aryn Garswood, Head of the BDO Zone Initiative. Participants included Joshua Zucal, Commissioner, Cameron County, and Steven Lockley, Executive Director of the Kemper County Economic Development Authority. The webinar underscored the regions’ abundant biomass resources, robust infrastructure, shovel-ready sites and attractive local incentives, positioning these BDO Zones as prime locations for biobased projects seeking a reliable supply of woody biomass.
BDO ZoneCONNECT, a joint initiative with The Daily Digest, aims to facilitate connections and stimulate development interest within BDO Zone communities. It serves as a catalyst for networking, sharing new BDO Zone ratings, and attracting a diverse global audience of stakeholders, including investors, bio-based project developers, financiers, and community leaders.
To view the webinar, please click below:
Summary of Presenter Remarks
Peter Wolf, Project Director, Ecostrat:
- “Cameron County is located in Northern Pennsylvania, the region has a quantity of 450,000 dry tons of wood fiber. About ¾ of that is low grade round wood, i.e. pulpwood, the remainder would be the tops and branches of saw timber trees and unmerchantable trees, we refer to that as forest residue.”
- “The delivered price we estimate would be in the range of $70-90/bdt delivered to a facility that sets up in Cameron County.”
- “The largest asset is that this is a leading hardwood manufacturing and export region in the United States. So you have a large network of hardwood sawmills that have been manufacturing value-added products for decades. A developer that sets up in the region looking to make use of lower grade wood fiber can have confidence that they’re going to have sustainable harvesting rates going forward.”
- “In the rating we assess a 13 acre site in Emporium that has all utilities in place and access to comparatively low electricity and natural gas rates if you look at other regions in the US. So in terms of the Infrastructure side of things, major assets there.”
Joshua Zucal, Commissioner, Cameron County:
- “We’re in a region that’s heavily forested that’s known for our strong work ethic, deep rooted industrial heritage and supportive community environment. The County offers a compelling setting for manufacturers to look to innovate in a cost effective and resource rich region.”
- “Roughly 90% of Cameron County is forested, either state land or timber management land and that includes the Elk State Forest and the Pennsylvania Game Commission lands.”
- “The regenerative assets we have is forest agriculture is something that won’t leave because of our location, our landscape and also the ownership and conservation of the trees we have.”
- “I’ve had a lot of conversations with loggers who are leaving pulpwood in the woods because there is no place for it to go. It’s not worth it for them to pull any of it out because there is no market for it currently.”
- “Cameron County is considered an at risk/distressed community, this opens up additional federal dollars for companies interested in us. In terms of financial assistance, we have a revolving loan fund that’s designed behind job creation and retention.”
Peter Wolf , Project Director, Ecostrat:
- “Kemper County has 1.1 Million bone dry tons of wood fibre that can be delivered at $40-80/bdt. The highlight here is that there has been this long term decline in competition for pine and pulpwood. There’s a lot of material in areas where thinning is occurring to optimize growth and yield. There’s a lot of underutilized potential out there.”
- “The US South which is inclusive of Mississippi is known in recent years for extreme growth in lumber production. So you have this steady growth in the industry despite the pulp and paper decline. This helps ensure you have sustainable harvesting moving forward with the quantities we’re rating here.”
- “There is a large 34 acre site located in Scooba, MS which was the center point of the analysis here in Kemper County which has had recent utility upgrades.”
Steven Lockley, Executive Director, Kemper County Economic Development Authority:
- “The Highway 45 site is a 362 acre site, this is a very attractive property as it has access to CPKC rail. The Highway 45 Weyhauser site is 33.6 acres and also has CPKC rail that runs through it.”
- “We’re a leading regional forest industry with a large network of experienced suppliers with underutilized pine forest resources. We have a comprehensive transport infrastructure with a close proximity to the Gulf of America.”
- “We’ve had a steady increase in our annual net growth, along with annual harvest removals. Additionally, our growth to drain ratio is strong and positive because of this, I believe we can sustain a biomass industry here in Kemper County.”
- “There are no zoning requirements in the county, so in terms of acquiring permits there are none, someone looking at Kemper County will not have to jump through hoops to site a project.”
For more information on the Cameron County, PA, BDO Zone, click here, and for their slide deck, click here.
For more information on the Kemper County, MS, BDO Zone, click here, and for their slide deck, click here.
Contact Information:
Joshua Zucal, BDO Zone Local Development Leader (LDL) and Commissioner, Cameron County (jzucal@cameroncopa.gov).
Steven Lockley, BDO Zone Local Development Leader (LDL) and Executive Director, Kemper County Economic Development Authority (steven@kempereda.com).
Aryn Garswood, Head of the BDO Zone Initiative (aryn@ecostrat.com).
