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MassDevelopment In The News
BioEnergy Nets $2.1 Million from Bay State, Plans to Hire
June 15, 2007: Mass High Tech, by Catherine Williams
A Norwell-based company focused on the research and development of biofuels is expanding its Bay State operations and hiring new employees, with the help of a $2.1 million investment from the state of Massachusetts.
BioEnergy International LLC has been awarded a combination of two loans worth $1 million each and a $100,000 grant from two Massachusetts state investment agencies - the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and MassDevelopment.
BioEnergy executives say they plan to use the investment to create 13 new jobs and establish a new R&D facility south of Boston. The company also plans to match the state's investment with $7 million of private funds, said Warren Leon, director of the collaborative's Renewable Energy Trust.
"We believe that, in Massachusetts, there is a real opportunity to build up a focus on biofuels and bioenergy, and develop the research side of that industry," said Leon.
Supporting new biofuels-related opportunities to the state is a high priority for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who has said he is committed to growing an alternative energy and clean energy technology cluster in the state. For instance, state officials are in the midst of bidding for two $125 million grants to establish two biofuels research centers under a program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
And the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, a quasi-state agency dedicated to making technology investments in the Bay State, has pledged state money to match at least a portion of that federal funding.
Over the past three fiscal years, MassDevelopment, the state's finance and development authority, has invested $4 billion to support housing development projects and business expansions.
At the same time, a chunk of BioEnergy International's business went to the Keystone State last year when the company announced plans to build an ethanol plant there after receiving a $17.5 million investment from the state of Pennsylvania.
© Copyright 2007 Mass High Tech.
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