Canola processing facility to be built in Warden
Pacific Coast Canola is leasing 52 acres of property from the Port of Warden and announced they are ready to start building a canola processing facillity on port property.
WARDEN - The Pacific Coast Canola project in Warden received funding to build a facility at the Port of Warden.
More than 200 jobs are expected to be created with the plant's construction and between 35 and 40 jobs with the Canola company, said Terry Brewer, executive director of the Grant County Economic Development Council, on Monday.
"It's a big project," Brewer told the Columbia Basin Herald.
The company's Canola oil is used by food processors and the food service industry, according to a company spokesperson.
Canola meal is made for livestock and animal feed producers.
The farming industry could also see a boost, as the company's goal is to work with Columbia Basin farmers to buy their Canola crops, said the port's manager, Pat Millard, on Monday.
In the meantime, as the market gets established, she expects there will be some Canola seed coming back from the Dakotas and Canada.
Although the plant won't be operational this year, construction is expected to start sometime this year.
She wasn't sure of the construction date, but she knows the company does have equipment coming in. Grain silos need to be refurbished.
"It is great news," Millard said. "We're really excited for them to get started."
The project changed shape over the years.
Plans started in about 2005 to build a biodiesel plant under the Washington Biodiesel name and later changed to companies Legumix Walker, Glencore Grain Investment LLC and Pacific Coast Canola.
The plan changed because the economics didn't work for Canola oil to be processed into biodiesel, said Brewer.
The Port of Warden received grant money for the project from the state Department of Agriculture and received two extensions because the state agency thought it was such a good project, Brewer recalled.
Legumix Walker is the major capital investment firm Pacific Coast Canola was working with to gain equity to start the project, said Brewer.
The company is 85 percent owned by Legumix Walker with the remaining 15 percent by Glencore Grain Investment LLC.
Dryland wheat farmers in Eastern Washington will find Canola a good alternative to wheat, as it also does well without irrigation, he explained.
The project is located adjacent to rail and has a rail spur on the property.
The company is leasing property from the Port of Warden and will be buying the grain silos owned by the Ritzville Warehouse Co.
The facility is built between the main road and the grain silos.
"With economic development, you have to have persistence and faith," Brewer sad. "With the change from biodiesel to Canola, I felt it was a very strong business plan. It had some strong interest among financial backers for some time."
There were too many uncertainties with the economy that would cause lenders to step back, he said.
"I felt it was a good project and sooner or later, they would connect with the right entity," Brewer commented. "I've been thinking that for the last six months."
He expects a groundbreaking to take place soon.
"We think the Warden facility will create a new opportunity for existing Canola farmers and for those in the area not currently producing Canola oilseed to add a high-value crop to their rotations," stated a company spokesperson to the Columbia Basin Herald.
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