|
|
Stephen Kloosterman
Bill Freckman, director of operations for the MSU Bioeconomy Institute, shows U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow some equipment at the Institute on Wednesday.
|
Holland Township
Dry fibers separated from manure make up a new product for bedding horses — an innovation officials say is one among hundreds in the state’s budding bio-based manufacturing industry.
The product is produced by Eco-Composites LLC, a tenant of the Michigan State University’s Bioeconomy Institute in Holland.
“We’re selling it in large quantities,” company President Carey Boote told U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow during a tour of the institute. “We’re actually marketing it at a slightly higher price (than traditional bedding) but our product works so much better. It just takes up so much moisture, it’s like a giant sponge.”
The Michigan Democrat facing a reelection challenge this year was at the institute Wednesday to announce more details of her “Grow it Here, Make it Here” initiative. She said that bio-based manufacturing was a growing part of the economy and a vital priority for a state whose main industries are manufacturing and agriculture.
“Right now we have 440 products that are certified nationally, in Michigan, as bio-based products,” Stabenow said.
Randy Thelen, president of the economic development group Lakeshore Advantage, cited a recent West Michigan Strategic Alliance study that found that the agriculture represents a $2.4 billion industry in West Michigan. Based on that figure, a 5 percent increase in bio-based industry could mean as many as 1,300 new jobs in the region.
Stabenow’s initiative — introduced at Zeeland Farm Services last fall — is aimed at creating jobs by creating a tax credit for Michigan’s emerging bio-based manufacturing industry.
On Wednesday, Stabenow announced other parts to the initiative:
-
a product-labeling system that would let consumers opt for products certified as being created with bio-based fibers or oils;
-
increasing federal purchasing of bio-based products by 50 percent;
- more efforts to commercialize bio-based products, by offering grants/loans to startup companies that manufacture the products.
Stabenow said the initiative would be a part of a farm bill she plans to introduce at the end of September.
“My number one priority is jobs, and this certainly is about jobs,” she said. “It’s also about a sustainable economy.”