by Ramona du
Houx
Corinth Wood
Pellets is poised to become the largest pellet manufacturing plant in North America. Once
production starts, Ken Eldridge said, 140,000 tons of wood pellets will be sold annually.
After sixteen
months of preparation, Eldridge was clearly excited during the opening ceremony of his
business last March.
"We are
about to become the largest wood pellet manufacturer in the United States," he said.
"By the end of the year we will have completed our second phase, which will bring
production up to over 300,000 tons of pellets a year — a year!"
It all started
when Eldridge went to pick up a few supplies at the local hardware store and there was a
wood pellet stove producing heat. "It was such an even, safe heat, the owner put
papers on the stove, and they weren’t damaged," said Eldridge. "After that
I came home, did my homework, and here we are."
Pellet-burning
appliances are often compared to oil and electric heaters for ease of use. They require
less frequent refueling, can be vented through a small hole to the outdoors, and produce
virtually no smoke. They are safe and stay relatively cool to the touch, since the stove
exteriors are not used to radiate heat. Bags of pellets are more easily and compactly
stored than wood and are easy to load. The low moisture content of pellets results in high
efficiency and few unwanted emissions.
Pellets are
manufactured from wood products that normally go to waste: ‘trash’ wood, such as
roadside saplings culled by road crews; limbs, tops, and other residue of logging; sawdust
and woodchip byproducts of lumber mills and wood manufacture; and cardboard and other wood
fiber, such as paper packaging that normally goes to clog landfills. The raw material is
ground, dried, and compressed—through the same kind of equipment used to form
livestock feed—into pencil-eraser-sized biscuits of uniform size, dryness, and energy
content.
Ken Eldridge owner
of Cornith Wood Pellets meets Gov. Baldacci as the company Operations Manager Paul Faxon
and the governor's economic advisor look on.
"Wood
pellets are such a natural product for Maine," said Jack Cashman, the governor’s
economic advisor. "In Europe there is a huge, growing market for them as an
environmentally friendly, economical alternative to oil. This is the first of three
companies in Maine that are starting wood pellet production. Other plants will be in
Houlton and Old Town."
Eldridge has
invested $4.5 million in the project and will employ thirty to forty people; approximately
100 jobs will be created for loggers, truck drivers and other related jobs. Some of the
workers were formally employed by Moosehead Manufacturing in Dover-Foxcroft, the GP mill
in Old Town, and Corinth Products.
"Our
economy is in transition. Corinth Wood Pellets is a company that is helping the state move
forward in the global economy. And they are doing it in a way that everyone in the
community is involved. I’m proud that they will become the largest wood pellet
manufacturer in North America and that they are setting a standard. They are showing the
world the Maine way of getting things done. Corinth Wood Pellets is a wonderful example
that Maine is open for business," said Governor Baldacci. "We’re playing
off our strengths, using our forests for a renewable energy source and in quality wood
products. Maine is going to be the Saudi Arabia of the forest lands."
Corinth Wood
Pellets anticipates that about 70 percent of the pellets will be shipped to European
markets.
"Working
with the right agencies, we will ensure we ship with Maine companies using Maine
ports," said Paul Faxon, the company’s operations manager. "Everyone at the
Department of Economic and Community Development has been working with us to help make
this a success. Local businesses and the town really came together to help. This has
really been a community effort; it’s the Maine way of getting things done."
DECD
Commissioner John Richardson, with owner Ken Eldridge and his wife, and Operations Manager
Paul Faxon, with Governor John Baldacci help cut the grand-opening ribbon of Corinth Wood
Pellets.
The
governor’s Pine Tree Zone initiative, which offers tax breaks to businesses, was
credited by company officials with making the endeavor possible.
Corinth
residents unanimously voted recently to support the company in obtaining a $400,000
community development block grant to build an additional sawdust storage building.
"We’re going to do
all we can to help facilitate the grant process," said John Richardson, commissioner
of the Department of Economic and Community Development. "The community spirit and
their hard work made all this happen. It’s Maine at its best."
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