Port building lease helpful in starting Gen-X biodiesel plant

PHOTOS: Above left - Gen-X production center in Port of Walla Walla’s Burbank Industrial Park. Above center - Processing facility for biodiesel. Below right - Ramon Benavides examines sample showing clarity of Gen-X biodiesel.

   In what was a vacant grain storage building in the Port of Walla Walla’s Burbank Industrial Park, a start-up biodiesel plant is producing products that will contribute to a reduced demand for foreign oil and result in cleaner air.
   Gen-X Energy Group – founded by a half dozen entrepreneurs with science and business backgrounds – transitioned from “garage shop experiment” to volume processing with support from the Port.
   “We received a cost-effective lease on this site,” said Ramon Benavides, Gen-X secretary treasurer and finance officer. “Our agreement allows us to be competitive with other plants in the Pacific Northwest.”
   It’s good for the Port, too, according to Commissioner Mike Fredrickson. “The multiple-year agreement gives Gen-X an affordable start-up facility and generates income from what was an unused building.”

   In a market that is described by Gen-X officials as needing “millions and millions of gallons,” the local plant is licensed to produce five-million gallons annually, but has the capacity to process up to 40-million gallons.
   Right now, thanks in part to legislation that requires greater biodiesel use in Oregon and California, Benavides says Gen-X’s permitted production for 2008 is “sold out.”
   “We’re growing exponentially,” says Benavides. “Our staff will double – from 10 to 20 employees – by the end of 2007.”
   “We expect to make those hires from the Burbank community,” he emphasizes.
   “Our business philosophy is based on doing all we can locally – creating employment opportunities for people who live here, supporting area farmers who raise source crops, maintaining our headquarters in Burbank.”

“Gen-X already has been recognized by our industry for its technology, product quality and production capabilities...we will be a national powerhouse.”

     Ramon Benavides
     Gen-X Energy Group
     Secretary-Treasurer