On Veterans Day, the Veterans for Renewable Fuels (VRF) congratulated Marine Corps vet and Vice President-elect JD Vance on his victory and invited him to pay them a visit to learn more about the ethanol industry’s policy priorities that support the goal of U.S. energy security.

In a letter to the newly-elected vice president, VRF Co-Chairs Jeff Oestmann and Tony Leiding and Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper noted that veterans make up 16 percent of the ethanol industry workforce. “According to the Department of Energy … the ethanol workforce has a higher concentration of veterans than any other segment of the U.S. energy industry, and our veteran density is three times that of the national labor force,” they wrote. “We take enormous pride in the fact that we work in an industry that simultaneously improves America’s energy security, economic vitality, and environmental quality. In addition, the ethanol industry has created tens of thousands of good jobs in rural communities across the country, allowing us to share with our families the small-town way of life that is central to American values and our cultural identity.”

“We would like to extend an open invitation to you and your team to visit one of the many ethanol biorefineries affiliated with our organization to learn more about our industry, its impact on veterans, and its contributions to our nation’s energy security and economic vitality,” they concluded.

Like Vance, Oestmann also served in the Marine Corps, while Leiding and Cooper are U.S. Army veterans.