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| By Libby John | |
| Wednesday, 01 August 2007 | |
 After a difficult year, the Black family has pulled together to work to make its company, Blue Sky Biodiesel, a success. The company, based in New Plymouth, Idaho, was started in February 2006 by Black and his brother, Doug Black, who anticipated great demand for biodiesel fuel. But a few days before the plant’s official opening in July, a fire at the plant killed Rob Black’s 25-year-old son, Blaise. Several days later, company officials decided to regroup and rebuild the severely damaged plant. “We had a lot of investment [in the plant],” Rob Black says. “We had to go on with it.” The plant, which had sustained about $600,000 worth of damages, reopened in October. After the accident, Black hired his brother, Jay Black, as a safety officer. Jay Black was previously a pipeline inspector for a gas company, Rob Black says. Jay Black’s main responsibility is to lead mandatory weekly meetings for all employees to discuss potential safety hazards at new welding areas, and how to handle potential accidents, Rob Black says. “We had [safety meetings] prior to the accident,” he notes. “We are just more rigid about them now.” Other family members who came onboard to help Black’s company after his son’s death include his niece Kelly Black, lab manager and technician; his nephew Pat Tindall, welder and fabricator who oversees operations; and his nephew Scottie Black, who works in the lab during the summer. “Everyone pitched in to help [after the accident],” Black says. “We had a lot of community and family support.” The company also received support from the Idaho government, which presented the company with the 2007 Renewable Energy Award for being the first commercial biodiesel plant in the state. Company Origin Black explains he and his brother conducted a feasibility study of the plant in September 2005 that determined biodiesel production would be a profitable venture because consumers want an energy source that does not have a negative impact on the environment. Also, it is less expensive to produce biodiesel as opposed to other renewable energy fuels, such as ethanol. “We wanted to be ahead of the curve,” Rob Black says. Unlike petrodiesel, soy-based biodiesel is not processed from petroleum. The brothers decided to produce biodiesel as opposed to other fuels because it was less expensive, he adds. After the plant reopened, the company faced another setback when petroleum prices went down as soy prices rose. As a result of the high soy oil prices and the damage from the fire, the plant shut down in November, one month after it reopened, and opened again in January 2007. While the plant was shut down, the company focused on other projects, such as constructing a new building, changing equipment and updating technology, Black says. The plant has a continuous flow design, which makes it more compact than other biodiesel plants. The plant is capable of producing 15 to 20 million gallons of biodiesel every year. Jon Van Gerpen, a professor at the University of Idaho, also assisted with the reconstruction, Black says. “He basically wrote the book on biodiesel,” he says. “He gives us good advice [on new research and advanced technology].” Black’s background in commodities trading gave him the skills to track the prices of corn, soy beans and oil in the market. His brother was a managing partner for an accounting firm, and was looking for an investment, he says. The company has yet to operate for a full year, but Black is optimistic about the future. “There is a great amount of interest in renewable fuel,” according to Black. “We’re hoping that there will be profit in it. We want to grow the plant, make some money and start paying the bank back.” |
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