In what’s been a roller coaster ride for a biodiesel refiner in Canada seems to be on the upswing now. This article from the Welland (Ontario) Tribune says the former Great Lakes Biodiesel plant, which closed last year after falling into receivership, has officially reopened as the 45-million-gallon-per-year Atlantic Biodiesel.
“In a very short time, we’ve taken the assets and built up a business with a new management team,” said Michael Paszti, chief operating officer of the new company.
Paszti said the 25 people who had worked for Great Lakes Biodiesel were rehired to work at the plant, which is expected to be among the top 20 largest producers of biodiesel in North America after production begins at the end of July.
“There was a conscious commitment to the employees and they were kept on right through the process,” he said. “The operations workers are the same experienced workers we had before and they’re going to be critical to our success going forward. We need their experience to run this plant.”
The new owners do plan to expand the plant’s capacity down the road.