Kaysinger conference speaker shows business owners how they can think outside the box

Saturday, September 22, 2007
Steve Flick

This is the last in a series of three stories featuring speakers at the 2007 Kaysinger Business Conference "Pursuit of Profits" on Sept. 27 at The Haidee and Allen Wild Center for the Arts at Cottey College in Nevada, Mo. For more information about the Kaysinger Business Confer-ence, visit www.kaysing-er.org.

NEVADA, Mo. -- Steve Flick knows how to add value to something that has no value.

He can transform a wasted corn stock into a pellet that will heat your home.

Flick, president of the board of Show Me Energy Cooperative, works with a board of 400 farmers, producers and suppliers to produce alternative fuels from renewable biomass inputs.

The co-op takes cellulose, such as soybean stalks, corn stalks or out of condition hay, material that is worn and dried out and can not be used, and they find a use for it. They create fuel pellets that can be used in pellet stoves, furnaces, and even barbeques. All materials are from local area farmers, producers and suppliers.

To date, the co-op is unaware of any other entity in the country that manufactures fuel pellets from agricultural biomass residues. All other known manufactures produce pellets from wood, a natural resource that takes longer to renew.

Flick began developing the idea of renewable biomass inputs three years ago.

As a seed company owner, Flick Seed Co., Kingsville, Mo., Flick was concerned about the amount of grass seed hulls he was forced to dispose of each year. He started researching ways to turn his "residue" into a viable product.

"I started because I felt that we had resources available to be less dependent of foreign fuel," he said. With the support of friends and business associates, Flick formed Missouri Bioenergy LLC in 2003 to carry the project forward.

Once the feasibility of the pellets was analyzed in 2004, plans were made to develop a working, producer-owned cooperative over a three-year period.

Along with the benefits of homegrown, renewable fuel, the co-op also created a market for farmers and producer investors and is leading the path for alternative energy in Missouri and across the United States.

The co-op model allows Show Me Energy to share the investment and dividends among various entities. Farmers and producer investors are also eligible for Missouri state tax credits.

Show Me Energy is the first non-profit, producer-owned biomass cooperative in the United States. Its vision is to establish an innovative, profitable, leading model for production of biomass based fuels which may be replicated across the country by small producer owned co-ops that will provide a positive economic impact on the regions where they are located.

At full capacity, the Show Me Energy manufacturing plant, located in Centerview, Mo., will produce about 100,000 tons of fuel pellets a year.

That output represents only 10 percent of the total volume of pellets sold during last year's heating season.

The manufacturing plant runs three shifts a day, five days a week, with a minimum of seven employees per shift. Plant operation is overseen by a five-member board of directors meeting on a regular basis to analyze production, forecast needs and plan for expansion. On a daily basis, the plant is supervised by a general manager and a plant manager. Show Me Energy Co-Op pellets are sold to retailers of pellet stoves and pellet fuels. The co-op also anticipates direct sales to local consumers at the plant site and bulk sales to utility companies.

The co-op's second phase is to research how to use the same biomass and the same fuel model to create alternative renewable fuel in the form of ethanol and bio-diesel.

Flick is most proud of the fact that Show Me Energy Co-Op is blazing the trail in this industry. "Missouri is leading the industry in the U.S.," he said. "I'm proud of the board of directors that I work with and all of us having a common goal and vision. We have put our money where our mouth is and we are growing."

The Show Me Energy Co-Op has received numerous federal and state awards, including the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Alternative Energy Sources Award in 2005 and 2006 from the Environmental Protection Agency. Show Me Energy Co-Op has also had the honor to give facility tours to Congressman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., and Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

Flick, a seed producer of 25 years and a University of Missouri-Columbia graduate, continues to learn more about the industry to progress the co-op.

In addition to running his own company, Flick is constantly meeting with various entities, traveling and even touring facilities overseas.

The mission of the industry is important to him.

"It's our children and grandchildren's future," he said. "We have the potential to decrease our imported fuel supply and to further research and develop methods that will be utilized for future generations for fuel models."

Flick will speak at the Kaysinger Business Confer-ence on Sept. 27, at The Haidee and Allen Wild Center for the Arts at Cottey College (on the corner of Austin and Tower streets), Nevada. He hopes to encourage participants to "think outside the box" through his experiences with the Show Me Energy Co-Op.

To learn more about the co-op, visit www.goshowmeenergy.com Kaysinger Business Seminar tickets are still available.

Register at www.kaysing-er.org or contact Lesley Street, Kaysinger Basin Regional Planning Commis-sion toll-free at (866) 884-3393.