Building a Clean Tech Industry

Building a Clean Tech Industry. I’m Greg Martin as Line On Agriculture presents the Harvest Clean Energy Report.

There are a lot of energy companies out there these days but some towns are just now realizing there is a great benefit to building their local clean tech industry. Gynii Gilliam, Executive Director of Bannock Development has been instrumental in helping bring energy technology firms to the Pocatella, Idaho area.

GILLIAM: We help businesses create jobs. We do it either through business recruitment or business retention and expansion. So the BRE part, the retention and expansion has to do with continuing to help businesses that are already in the area. And then the recruitment of course is the sexier part of the job because that’s the one that gets splashed across the headlines.

Bannock Development has been instrumental in bringing in firms such as Hoku Materials and Nordic Windpower to the Pocatello area.

GILLIAM: And then we have also brought in in all of Eastern Idaho we’ve brought in a lot of wind farm developments as well and that extends from the middle part of the state so in the Twin Falls area all the way to Idaho Falls area. We also have - it depends - nuclear energy is clean energy and of course we have the Idaho National Lab in Idaho Falls.

Gilliam’s company has a very strong economic development team which works to find places for these businesses.

GILLIAM: We make it very easy for them because for instance Bannock Development, we always consider ourselves as their one-stop shop. So you come to me and I will get you to the right resource. It’s not because we have all the answers it’s because we have such a strong team and such a strong partnership if you come to me with an environmental question, I will get you to the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality. If you need to get hold of the Governor’s office, we’ll get you connected to the Governor’s office. That is one of the things they have repeated told us is that we make it very easy to get to the right person.

Bannock Development is one of this year’s sponsors for the Harvesting Clean Energy Conference.

GILLIAM: Bannock Development - and personally - I strongly believe that economic development and care for the environment go hand-in-hand. And so as we continue to develop clean energy and as we continue to attract clean energy companies, it makes perfect sense.

For additional information on clean energy or the Harvest Clean Energy Conference in Boise this fall visit harvestcleanenergy.org. That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.???www.harvestcleanenergy.org