A grant opportunity through the U.S. Forest Service and the federal stimulus bill from earlier this year has resulted in a $4.89 million economic recovery grant to Ochoco Lumber Co. of John Day, Ore., where the company will build a two-machine wood fuel pellet manufacturing plant. The company is also partnering with Oregon-based Bear Mountain Forest Products, a longtime pellet manufacturer, to sell the pine fuel products as Bear Bricks for regional retail sale.
Bear Mountain Forest Products, founded in 1988 and based in Portland, operates plants in Brownsville and Cascade Locks and sells to more than 400 retailers in the Western U.S. The new facilities will utilize biomass harvested from private lands as well as nearby U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands. The plant will produce pellets for bulk delivery to fuel pellet boilers in hospitals, schools and other commercial and government buildings in the region. The company also hopes to significantly increase production by providing fuel pellets to large industrial users such as utility companies.
The recovery funds will help the company purchase and install a new drying system, two pellet-making machines and the infrastructure necessary for the boiler and dryer systems. The governor’s office reported that the company plans to have the pellet-making operation, which will create 11 new full-time jobs and help maintain 80 other jobs in the community, up and running by the end of next summer.
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