Wit Ventures: Origin Materials

Thursday, 28 September 2017

California Company Plans Sarnia Pilot Plant.

From Paul Morden, Sarnia Observer.

A California-based bio-chemical company set to open a commercial-scale demonstration plant in 2018 at the Arlanxeo site in Chemical Valley is already expanding in Sarnia.

It was announced this week that Origin Materials is moving a pilot plant it purchased from Tennessee-based Eastman Chemicals to the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park, next to Modeland Road.

Bioindustrial Innovation Canada, a government-funded agency based in Sarnia, said in a news release it is supporting the $6-million pilot plant project in partnership with Lambton College and the research park.

“We’re quite excited about it,” Origin Materials CEO John Bissell said Wednesday.

“We really wanted to establish what we’ve been calling a ‘beachhead’ in Sarnia.”

Initially, the company plans to use the oxidation pilot plant at the research park to work with terephthalic acid, “but we’re probably going to expand it to some other chemicals,” he said.

Oxidation is ‘on the trickier side\ of chemical processes and ‘the staff and the safety culture in Sarnia is just incredibly important to us,’ Bissell added.

“It makes (us) a lot more comfortable than a lot of the other places you can imagine starting something like this up.”

Link to the rest here.

Image Credit.

Thank you for reading.

Friday, 18 August 2017

Startup Hopes to Revolutionize Bottled Water.

From Troy Shantz, The Sarnia Journal.

A California startup hoping to transform the bottled water industry by producing a renewable bottle is building its steppingstone plant in Sarnia in part to capitalize on local expertise, its CEO says.

“One of the reasons why we picked Sarnia was because the labour force is highly-skilled and knows how to do exactly the kind of stuff we’re doing,” said John Bissell, co-founder of Origin Materials. John Bissell is the co-founder and CEO of Origin Materials.

The company has developed a patented process that turns organic waste such as wood chips, wheat straw and corn stalks into a liquid compound called CMF, or chloromethylfurfural.

Construction of the commercial-scale demonstration facility in Sarnia is expected to begin 'soon' and be fully operational by the end of 2018, Bissell said.

Link to the rest here.

Thank you for reading.

Image: By Leideomangeos - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31047334

Shirley D. Neal

Shirley has over 30 years of experience in such diverse businesses as financial planning, manufacturing, and supply. Her education includes a B.A., B.ED., M.ED., C.F.P., N.L.P. and the home inspector’s course as well as having her AZ license for five years. Her family home has given her and her husband the opportunity to do extensive renovation and repairs thereby increasing the value about $100,000 in ten years. She has been able to see firsthand how much a sensible and cost efficient renovations can add to the value of a home. Shirley has chosen joint ventures because she thinks that her experiences an help others achieve their goals and maximize the profits for both parties. In 1979, Shirley became involved in a small group of women who started a metal manufacturing company making small deep drawn metal parts for the automobile companies in Windsor. They took the company from start up to over $400,000 in sales in five years. That was a lot of parts since the parts sold for only five cents per each. In 1985 they sold the company to one of their customers. Whether it was selling mutual funds, teaching foster parents how to recruit foster parents, or working for Tony Robbins, Shirley has put more than 100 percent into every endeavour she was involved in.