Bowie County, Texas Issued BDO Zone ‘AA’ Rating for Woody Biomass

TexAmericas Center, Ecostrat and the BDO Zone Initiative are pleased to announce the issue of a BDO Zone ‘AA’ Rating for Bowie County, Texas. The BDO Zone is rated for 800,000 bone dry tons per year of low-risk woody biomass and spans a 75-mile drive radius from its central point in Texarkana, TX.

Bowie County’s ‘AA’ Rating denotes very high prospective viability of Feedstock Supply and Infrastructure and low expectations of default risk in the Zone. Bowie County’s sustainably managed timber resource, where annual net growth far outpaces annual removals, has left a substantial surplus of pine pulpwood and thinning material. Anchoring the Zone is the Boone-Copeland Industrial Park, a 140-acre, light-and-heavy-industrial site in Hooks, within the TexAmericas Center. The site is well served on every major utility, with on-site rail access and easy access to US Hwy 82/I-30 and US Hwy 59/I-369, positioning Bowie County as a top-tier location for bio-based industrial development.

“This ‘AA’ rating validates something we have long understood about our region: Northeast Texas has the natural resources, infrastructure, workforce and industrial capacity to compete for the next generation of bio-based industries,” said Scott Norton, Chief Executive Officer, TexAmericas Center. “The strength of our timber resource extends well beyond Bowie County, and when combined with the transportation and industrial assets available across the greater Texarkana region, it creates a compelling platform for new investment, job creation and long-term economic growth.”

“For companies evaluating biofuels, renewable chemicals, advanced materials and other wood-based manufacturing opportunities, this report converts a perceived resource advantage into a quantified and independently assessed business opportunity,” said Eric Voyles, Executive Vice President and Chief Economic Development Officer, TexAmericas Center. “Developers can now see the scale and risk profile of the available feedstock alongside the infrastructure and development capacity at TexAmericas Center. That gives us a powerful tool to move conversations from ‘Could this work here?’ to ‘How do we make the project work here?’”

“Bowie County is one of the strongest woody biomass BDO Zones we have rated: a large, underutilized surplus backed by real infrastructure,” said Jordan Solomon, Chairman of the BDO Zone Initiative. “We expect it to accelerate serious conversations with developers evaluating the Gulf South.”

To see the full BDO Zone Rating for Bowie County, TX, visit www.bdozone.org.

About The BDO Zone Initiative

The Biofuel Development Opportunity (BDO) Zone Initiative certifies ‘regional readiness’ for bio-manufacturing, creates global connections and ignites an influx of new energy opportunities for farmers, economic developers, and rural businesses. A BDO Zone rating is an internationally recognized, standards-based technical risk assessment of a region’s feedstock, supply chain, and infrastructure risk with respect to the development potential for new biofuel plants. BDO Zone ratings are site location bullseyes for bio-project development. Investment grade ratings are force-multipliers for attracting new manufacturing plants to the areas where they are most likely to succeed, drive investment and create jobs.

Ecostrat is the North American leader in biomass due diligence for biofuels, renewable chemicals, biogas, and bio-product project development and finance.

About TexAmericas Center

Located on the Texas side of the Texarkana metropolitan area, TexAmericas Center owns and operates a premier industrial park, which is one of the largest mixed-use industrial parks in the United States. With roughly 12,000 development-ready acres of land and approximately 3.5 million square feet of commercial and industrial product, TexAmericas Center serves four states (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas). As the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) over all development processes on the property, TexAmericas Center helps companies save 12 to 18 months of public review time, leading to faster Speed-To-Occupancy.