On the list this year for receiving the “Award of Merit” is East Kansas Agri Energy, LLC; 1304 South Main; Garnett, KS.

“The ‘Award of Merit’ is given to the top 25 percent of ethanol producers who demonstrate the highest commitment to safety and generate the highest combined scores in the areas of ERI Safety Audit scores, OSHA incident rates, and workers compensation claims,” said Tom Denning, Director of Safety at ERI Solutions.

“By demonstrating good safety performance, it is evident that both the management and employees of East Kansas Agri Energy are committed to putting safety first,” said Denning.

The safety awards are used to recognize the commitment and results of producers’ efforts to put safety on top of the industry’s priority lists. “With the continued call for positive economic results, it is important to stop and recognize the positive impact to the bottom-line that can come from low personal injury rates and lost time incidents,” states Bruce Pearson, President of ERI Solutions. “Good safety performance not only saves money, but ensures everyone goes home at night as healthy as they came in,” he said.

The ERI Safety Group is made up of more than 70 ethanol producers representing almost 40% of the US ethanol industry’s production. Over all, the ethanol industry has seen marked improvement in its overall OSHA incident rates since 2005 and continues to demonstrate American ingenuity in solving the US’s dependency on foreign oil.

“The safety awards were created to recognize the ethanol industry’s dedication to the pursuit of excellence in safe operations. We are delighted to recognize the efforts of these fine companies and hope we can inspire more to achieve higher results,” said Pearson.

About ERI Solutions Inc.
ERI Solutions is the leading provider of safety programs and audits, environmental compliance, insurance risk management consulting and captive management services to North American ethanol producers. ERI Solutions is located in Colwich, Kansas and is parent to the industry’s largest group-owned insurance company ERM SPC Ltd., located in the Cayman Islands. The management of ERI Solutions has been providing leadership in ethanol safety and insurance since 2003.

Please plan to attend to receive an update on EKAE’s business and to interact with your board, management and staff.

The Renewable Fuels Association partnered with NBRA earlier this year to help dispel concerns about the use of ethanol fuel in boat engines. The partnership includes the use of the RFA “Fueled with Pride” logo on signage around the racing events, as well as on all the racing boats and haulers.

“This was an opportunity to tell our story that E10 blends will run in any commercial type of vehicle, whether boats, auto or whatever,” said Steve Gardner, general manager of East Kansas Agri-Energy located in Garnett. “If this will run in racing boats, it will run in any type of boats.”

Garnett is also home to the Kansas Corn Growers Association and they joined with representatives from RFA and East Kansas Agri-Energy at the race, where they provided fan bags with information and answered questions about the use of ethanol in marine engines.

All of the boats that race in NBRA competitions around the country this year have to prove they are using 10 percent ethanol fuel in order to be eligible for additional prize money in the race. “We test all the fuel before the race and then the top three entries in any class are tested when they come in to make sure they are running ethanol,” said NBRA president Dan Crummett.

The NBRA races include a number of different classes of hydroplanes and runabouts with stock and modified outboards that run as fast as 96 miles per hour. Crummett says most of the issues that boaters experience when using ethanol-blended fuel can be addressed with better maintenance.

“Any fuel will degrade over not a long period of time once the oil is mixed in it,” he says, which is why it’s so important for boaters to avoid leaving fuel set in the tank for an extended time.

NOTE: This is an edited version of a post that appeared on Corn Commentary. For the full post, including a radio report with Steve Gardner and a video of Dan Crummett, click here to go to the Corn Commentary blog. (Photos via Flickr.)

Click to download our five-year anniversary publication.

Since that time we’ve worked tirelessly to produce fuel and feed from the bounty produced by local corn farmers. Along the way we’ve made many friends and appreciate the tremendous support we’ve received from those we do business with and others in the community. What a great place to produce ethanol. What a great place to call home!

Ethanol is America’s – and the world’s – most successful renewable fuel. This didn’t happen overnight. It took real people, organizations, communities, farmers, investors and more to make it happen. We consider ourselves fortunate to be involved in producing a fuel that directly replaces oil derived from parts of the world that don’t always appreciate the American way of life.

Ethanol provides jobs for many people – those who work directly with us plus the numerous indirect jobs that are required to bring our products to market. Doing business locally is good for our economy and local community

So, as we mark our first five years of producing ethanol, we’d like to say thank you for your commitment to biofuels—farmers, customers, employees, investors, our board of directors, industry organizations, service providers and the community as a whole—everyone. Without your continued support and interest in our efforts to produce both food and fuel we would not be where we are today.

Thank you!