The Renewable Fuels Association is proud to announce that Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will visit the upcoming National Ethanol Conference to receive the RFA’s annual Industry Award, the ethanol industry’s highest honor. Each year, the award is presented to an individual or entity who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of the renewable fuels industry and the value-added agriculture sector. Gov. Reynolds’ accomplishments and determined leadership on renewable fuel and farm policy issues made her the obvious choice for this year’s award, according to RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper.
“Gov. Reynolds has always been a leading voice and champion for renewable fuels and farmers, but her remarkable efforts in 2022 went above and beyond,” Cooper said. “She led a bipartisan group of Midwest governors in a groundbreaking effort to secure air quality improvements and year-round E15 in their states. Last year, she also charted the course for passage of the ‘Biofuels Bill,’ which established the first statewide E15 standard in the country. Under Gov. Reynolds leadership, Iowa continues to set an excellent example for other states to follow on lower-cost, lower-carbon renewable fuels like ethanol. We are honored to welcome Gov. Reynolds to the National Ethanol Conference so we can personally present her with this well-deserved award.”
In 2018, Gov. Reynolds was the first woman elected to her state’s highest office, and she was re-elected to a second term last November by an overwhelming margin. Iowa is the leading producer of ethanol in the United States and recently broke its annual production record, with 4.5 billion gallons produced in 2022. Last year, Reynolds signed HF2128, the Biofuels Bill, making Iowa the first state in the nation to adopt an E15 standard and expanding access to higher blends of ethanol. She also rallied a bipartisan group of governors together to notify EPA of their intent to allow the E15 blend to be sold year-round.
The National Ethanol Conference is the nation’s most widely attended executive-level conference for the ethanol industry, taking place February 28 to March 2 at Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando. For more information and to register, click here.
Since 2010, winners of the RFA Industry Award include ethanol industry pioneers Ron Fagen, Dave VanderGriend, and Ron Miller; the first E15 retailer in the country, Scott Zaremba; technology innovators Gerson Santos-Leon and Quad County Corn Processors; outstanding industry advocates Ron Alverson, Neil Koehler, East Kansas Agri-Energy, Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy, and the National Corn Growers Association; and political champions former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and former Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson.
