By : Michael Lewis
Source : http://news.thomasnet.com
Category : Small Business Grant
It’s not very often in life when you get everything you ask for.
Think about it. You ask for a big raise at work, and maybe you get half of what you want.
You ask for extra cherries on that hot fudge sundae, and they give you one measly extra cherry.
You tell your spouse you want three things for your birthday, and you get only two.
You get the idea. But every once in a great while, you do get everything you asked for. Take, for example, the 67 individuals and businesses who submitted grant proposals to the U.S. Department of Agriculture last winter. These 67 businesses and individuals were looking for assistance with a variety of projects, ranging from helping rural agricultural producers reduce energy consumption and costs; use renewable energy technologies in their businesses and operations, and possibly conduct feasibility studies for renewable energy products.
With each grant proposal, prospective “winners” were asked how much money they would need to do the proposal they wanted.
Well, when the grants were issued three weeks ago, something kinda amazing happened: All 67 applications were approved. And all got the money they asked for.
“I was a little surprised to find that out myself,” said Jay Fletcher, who works in the press office of the USDA.
The grant money issued, which totaled $2.4 million for energy audits, and $1.2 million for feasibility study projects, is available through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), part of Congress’ 2008 Farm Bill.
Dallas Tonsager, the U.S. Under Secretary for Rural Development, said he was very pleased to offer the assistance to rural farmers and others who received grants.
“The Obama Administration is committed to making America more energy efficient, and in doing so, more competitive by encouraging rural businesses build renewable energy systems,” he said in a press release. “The projects … will provide rural small businesses and agricultural producers the opportunity to conduct feasibility studies for renewal energy system installations. Eligible intermediaries, such as universities, will receive funds to conduct energy audits which will lead to energy savings and initiatives that will reduce energy consumption for years to come.”
So who, exactly, is getting all this dough from the government? Well, the energy audit money is going almost exclusively to colleges and universities; the University of Alabama is getting $97,500, Penn State University is getting $100,000, and Oregon State is receiving 74,209, just to name three schools that won grants.
But on the renewable energy side, there’s likely a good story behind every grant. So I went in search of a few of those stories recently to find out exactly how this money will be used.
Let’s start with Jim Newcomb, a business owner in Fort Collins, Colo. Newcomb owns Northern Colorado Windpower, LLC, what he calls an “initial developers” company that is trying to bring windpower to that part of the state. Newcomb told me by phone that he applied for a grant of $50,000 in the hopes of finding out if he had a viable project or not. What Newcomb wants to do is build a 20-30 meagwatt wind farm in Northern Colorado.
“We know a wind farm will work here, but we’re trying to figure out how to get production from the site to the customer out there,” Newcomb said. “We really weren’t sure if we’d get the money; it’s a pretty involved process to get the grant.”
Newcomb said his company is about to embark on a transmission study over the next four months, and hopes to raise more money as the project moves along. The grant money is not paid out up front, Newcomb and others who received grants explained to me, but is reimbursed to the business owner afterwards.
Another business that committed to new forms of energy is Don W. Gilbert Hydro Power, LLC, located in Grace, Idaho. Don Gilbert himself, an 81-year-old farmer, owns the business and is looking to create a micro hydro-electric system in Grace. Gilbert said that he and his group have been working on this idea for “the past 4-5 years,” but it’s a slow process.”
“What we’re going to do with hydro-electric is selling power back to the electric companies,” Don Gilbert said. “We feel like hydro power is better than some of those windmills out there; the windmills make so much noise.”
Gilbert’s daughter, DeAnn Simonich, is the CEO of the company and expanded further on her family’s plans for the $14,650 grant.
“We’re working on an agreement right now with PacificCorp, a big electric company out in Seattle, to sell back power to them for our area of Idaho and Utah,” Simonich said. “Every state knows what its electricity is worth, so it’s a matter of us building the plant and then selling it for a price back to PacificCorp.”
Simonich said the hydro-electric plant will be built from a natural spring on a farm in Grace; she said studies they’ve done have shown that they’ll be able to produce 14-22 cubic feet of water, and the water will be able to generate 600 megawatts of power.
The grant money will be used for a feasibility study and help pay the cost of engineering, Simonich said, adding that the red tape and bureaucracy involved have made things go slowly.
“We’re waiting to get FERC approval,” she said, alluding to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. “That licensing can take up to a year, so our goal is to have the plant up and running by Oct. 2012.”
Simonich said the company has spent just over $15,000 so far, which for a small rural business is no small potatoes. Without this grant money, finances would be even tighter for the small company.
“I really think this is part of the future, getting power this way and really changing the way people use electricity,” Simonich said.
Another interesting use of grant money comes from Michigan’s Suburban Aviation, who owns the Toledo Suburban Airport in Ottawa, Lake Michigan. Owner Tom Trumbull received a $10,000 grant to do a feasibility study on an installing an anaerobic digester and a grease separator on the property. This would be a major help in breaking down biodegradeable waste and converting it into reusable energy, with Suburban Aviation doing its part for the environment.
There are many other grant stories, of course, but those are just a few. Sometimes government grants all just look like numbers on a sheet of paper, but every single one of them makes a huge difference in one business’s life.
Source : http://news.thomasnet.com/green_clean/2011/12/07/usda-grants-helping-small-businesses-with-wind-hydro-power/
Source : http://news.thomasnet.com
Category : Small Business Grant
It’s not very often in life when you get everything you ask for.
Think about it. You ask for a big raise at work, and maybe you get half of what you want.
You ask for extra cherries on that hot fudge sundae, and they give you one measly extra cherry.
You tell your spouse you want three things for your birthday, and you get only two.
You get the idea. But every once in a great while, you do get everything you asked for. Take, for example, the 67 individuals and businesses who submitted grant proposals to the U.S. Department of Agriculture last winter. These 67 businesses and individuals were looking for assistance with a variety of projects, ranging from helping rural agricultural producers reduce energy consumption and costs; use renewable energy technologies in their businesses and operations, and possibly conduct feasibility studies for renewable energy products.
With each grant proposal, prospective “winners” were asked how much money they would need to do the proposal they wanted.
Well, when the grants were issued three weeks ago, something kinda amazing happened: All 67 applications were approved. And all got the money they asked for.
“I was a little surprised to find that out myself,” said Jay Fletcher, who works in the press office of the USDA.
The grant money issued, which totaled $2.4 million for energy audits, and $1.2 million for feasibility study projects, is available through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), part of Congress’ 2008 Farm Bill.
Dallas Tonsager, the U.S. Under Secretary for Rural Development, said he was very pleased to offer the assistance to rural farmers and others who received grants.
“The Obama Administration is committed to making America more energy efficient, and in doing so, more competitive by encouraging rural businesses build renewable energy systems,” he said in a press release. “The projects … will provide rural small businesses and agricultural producers the opportunity to conduct feasibility studies for renewal energy system installations. Eligible intermediaries, such as universities, will receive funds to conduct energy audits which will lead to energy savings and initiatives that will reduce energy consumption for years to come.”
So who, exactly, is getting all this dough from the government? Well, the energy audit money is going almost exclusively to colleges and universities; the University of Alabama is getting $97,500, Penn State University is getting $100,000, and Oregon State is receiving 74,209, just to name three schools that won grants.
But on the renewable energy side, there’s likely a good story behind every grant. So I went in search of a few of those stories recently to find out exactly how this money will be used.
Let’s start with Jim Newcomb, a business owner in Fort Collins, Colo. Newcomb owns Northern Colorado Windpower, LLC, what he calls an “initial developers” company that is trying to bring windpower to that part of the state. Newcomb told me by phone that he applied for a grant of $50,000 in the hopes of finding out if he had a viable project or not. What Newcomb wants to do is build a 20-30 meagwatt wind farm in Northern Colorado.
“We know a wind farm will work here, but we’re trying to figure out how to get production from the site to the customer out there,” Newcomb said. “We really weren’t sure if we’d get the money; it’s a pretty involved process to get the grant.”
Newcomb said his company is about to embark on a transmission study over the next four months, and hopes to raise more money as the project moves along. The grant money is not paid out up front, Newcomb and others who received grants explained to me, but is reimbursed to the business owner afterwards.
Another business that committed to new forms of energy is Don W. Gilbert Hydro Power, LLC, located in Grace, Idaho. Don Gilbert himself, an 81-year-old farmer, owns the business and is looking to create a micro hydro-electric system in Grace. Gilbert said that he and his group have been working on this idea for “the past 4-5 years,” but it’s a slow process.”
“What we’re going to do with hydro-electric is selling power back to the electric companies,” Don Gilbert said. “We feel like hydro power is better than some of those windmills out there; the windmills make so much noise.”
Gilbert’s daughter, DeAnn Simonich, is the CEO of the company and expanded further on her family’s plans for the $14,650 grant.
“We’re working on an agreement right now with PacificCorp, a big electric company out in Seattle, to sell back power to them for our area of Idaho and Utah,” Simonich said. “Every state knows what its electricity is worth, so it’s a matter of us building the plant and then selling it for a price back to PacificCorp.”
Simonich said the hydro-electric plant will be built from a natural spring on a farm in Grace; she said studies they’ve done have shown that they’ll be able to produce 14-22 cubic feet of water, and the water will be able to generate 600 megawatts of power.
The grant money will be used for a feasibility study and help pay the cost of engineering, Simonich said, adding that the red tape and bureaucracy involved have made things go slowly.
“We’re waiting to get FERC approval,” she said, alluding to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. “That licensing can take up to a year, so our goal is to have the plant up and running by Oct. 2012.”
Simonich said the company has spent just over $15,000 so far, which for a small rural business is no small potatoes. Without this grant money, finances would be even tighter for the small company.
“I really think this is part of the future, getting power this way and really changing the way people use electricity,” Simonich said.
Another interesting use of grant money comes from Michigan’s Suburban Aviation, who owns the Toledo Suburban Airport in Ottawa, Lake Michigan. Owner Tom Trumbull received a $10,000 grant to do a feasibility study on an installing an anaerobic digester and a grease separator on the property. This would be a major help in breaking down biodegradeable waste and converting it into reusable energy, with Suburban Aviation doing its part for the environment.
There are many other grant stories, of course, but those are just a few. Sometimes government grants all just look like numbers on a sheet of paper, but every single one of them makes a huge difference in one business’s life.
Source : http://news.thomasnet.com/green_clean/2011/12/07/usda-grants-helping-small-businesses-with-wind-hydro-power/
