A new biomass business has plans to locate in Wallowa and provide a local market for an estimated 5,000 to 20,000 tons of woody biomass per year.

The company, Integrated Biomass Resources (IBR), will be located next to Community Smallwoods in Wallowa. IBR owner David Schmidt was formerly associated with Upstream 21, which is the parent company of Community Smallwoods. Now out on his own, he is pleased to be able to put his experience and connections to work in the new biomass business.

The company will use waste wood and wood byproducts to create fire logs and fire log slices called “briquettes.” These products serve both commercial and homeowner clients. Homeowners do not have to have a pellet stove to burn the product – it can be burned in wood-burning stoves or fireplaces.

Commercial customers will use the briquettes in the same way Enterprise School District uses woody biomass. The difference between the briquettes IBR will manufacture and the woody biomass system used by the school district is that briquettes take up one quarter of the storage space for the same amount of heat production, Schmidt said. “The same thing will be accomplished, just a smaller footprint,” he said.

Incentives for high-efficiency biomass systems aren’t limited to larger users, Schmidt pointed out. Residential consumers interested in converting to a high efficiency wood stove – or having purchased an eligible unit on or after January 1, 2007 – may qualify for the Oregon Residential Energy Tax Credit Program. The Oregon Biofuels Consumer Income Tax Credit for the purchase of renewable fuels may also apply to the purchase of briquettes and fire logs like those produced by Integrated Biomass Resources.

Schmidt, who grew up in a logging family, has a lifetime in the forest industry. “My dad had a logging contract and a sawmill and I worked every summer for my dad and uncles,” he said. “I bought my own logging business right out of high school and then went to study Wood Science and Engineering at OSU.”

His greatest drive for the new Wallowa project is his love for the forest industry and involvement in the community, he said. “I’m looking forward to creating jobs and adding value to products that, at the same time, benefit our forests and communities right here.”

The company’s primary focus will be on supplying the local market, Schmidt said, although if the product is in high demand the company is able to expand to fill that demand quickly. He intends to use local vendors, local retailers for product sales, and channel his company’s revenues back through the local economy whenever possible. He has utilized Enterprise-based consultants, Renewable Energy Solutions, for technical assistance in developing the project.

“We all know that we need each other to make the whole thing work,” Schmidt said. “That’s why we’re located next to Community Smallwoods; they need someone to take the residue and we need the residue to create our product. We are working closely with Wallowa Resources and Renewable Energy solutions; they are key for us because they help us link all these things together.”

Wallowa Mayor, Ron Gay, is enthusiastic about Schmidt’s choice of Wallowa for the project site. “It’s great to be able to create jobs,” Gay said. “Even better, that they’re right here. We are 100 percent behind it. We’ll do anything in our power to help him make it a success.”

The facility will eventually directly employ three to ten people, and intends to contract with local forest products businesses for supply of raw product.