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Solfuels Buys Plant In Helena-West Helena, Will Bring 15 Jobs

2 min read

Solfuels USA LLC, in partnership with Agritrade Resources Limited of Hong Kong, announced Friday that it has acquired a 40-million-gallon biodiesel plant in Helena-West Helena and will create up to 15 new jobs there.

The company plans to retrofit the facility to use multi-feedstocks and estimates the plant will be fully operational by the second quarter of 2017.

Solfuels also expects to create three to five new jobs in Memphis as a result of this deal, its first plant acquisition in the U.S.

The company is receiving two incentives through the Arkansas Economic & Development Commission.

One of the incentives is Advantage Arkansas, a state income tax credit for job creation based on the payroll of new, full-time permanent employees hired as the result of the project. Solfuels’ credit will be 4 percent of its payroll, according to AEDC spokesman Scott Hardin. 

The other incentive is Tax Back, which provides sales tax refunds on building materials, taxable machinery and equipment associated with the project.

The facility is on 38.2 acres alongside the Mississippi River and is able to handle transportation by truck, rail and barges, according to a news release.

“We believe that an acquisition of a plant in the U.S.A., together with a strong partner like Agritrade Resources, is the perfect combination and timing as the mandates recently confirmed by the EPA through 2018 are now creating a much larger market for biomass-based biodiesel,” CEO Henri J. Bardon said in the news release. “We are convinced that local biodiesel production capacity in the U.S. remains largely underinvested and the location of this plant 60 miles south of Memphis with its multi-modal logistical capabilities makes it an ideal location from which to distribute biodiesel.”

The company also said the plant’s property offers room to expand the company’s operational and supply chain capabilities in Helena.

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