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Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy Honored with RFA’s 2020 Industry Award

February 12, 2020

Events, RFA News

           

The Renewable Fuels Association presented Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy, or SIRE, with the 2020 Industry Award today at the 25th annual National Ethanol Conference. RFA's Industry Award is presented annually to a member company that has provided a unique contribution to the industry's success through technological, marketplace, or advocacy excellence. SIRE is being recognized this year for their critical role in hosting the President of the United States along with multiple cabinet officials, federal, state and local officials and national news media for a tour of their facilities and a celebration of new regulations permitting summertime sales of E15. The event convened industry leaders and policymakers, providing an opportunity for the Trump Administration to hear first-hand accounts of the positive impact that expanding the use of E15 would have, as well as accounts of the damage being done to the renewable fuels industry by the unprecedented number of small refiner exemptions to the Renewable Fuel Standard. Cooper noted the importance of SIRE's leadership in getting the ethanol industry's message to political leadership in a year that presented the ethanol industry with a challenging and politically charged environment. "SIRE did not just provide a tour of the facility and tell them how ethanol is made," said Cooper. "They engaged these officials in a frank and honest dialogue about the devastating impact of small refiner waivers, the need to restore the integrity of the RFS, and the potential benefits of moving toward a high-octane low carbon future. The hard work that the men and women of SIRE put into this unforeseen leadership role is paying off—and we salute them for their strong effort." In addition to the E15 celebration and facility tour, SIRE hosted an April news conference on refinery waivers with Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig and others, and a bipartisan press conference in August with Congresswoman Cindy Axne to call for a federal investigation into the EPA's Renewable Fuel Standard waiver process. The press conference featured speakers including SIRE CEO Mike Jerke, Iowa State Senator Tom Shipley, Iowa Soybean Association Board Member Jeff Jorgenson, and the CEO of Quad County Corn Processors Delayne D. Johnson. SIRE also hosted a roundtable discussion on issues facing rural America with U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Axne in October. SIRE is a state of the art dry-mill grain processing facility that produces over 130 million gallons of fuel grade ethanol per year along with over 365,000 tons of dried distillers grains annually and approximately 90,000 pounds per day of corn oil. The facility consumes more than 44.6 million bushels of corn feedstock annually, grain that originates from a large portion of southwest Iowa and several counties in southeast Nebraska. For more information on SIRE, visit www.sireethanol.com.