Charleston Area Alliance President and CEO Matt Ballard today congratulated the Australian company Carbonxt Inc. after it announced plans to build a $29 million plant at Institute that eventually is projected to employ 40 full-time workers.
 
The Alliance has been working with Carbonxt since 2007, when the company reached out for assistance in locating potential sites for short-term and longer-term facility needs. Ballard and Andrew Dunlap, the Alliance’s economic development project manager, worked to schedule meetings for the company and visits to potential sites, one of which was a location at a Bayer facility.
 
“We are proud of our role in this success story,” Ballard said. “The Alliance is committed to bringing jobs and employers to the Charleston region. Major endeavors like this start with handshakes and introductions. We know the Kanawha Valley’s potential, and this is a step toward creating its future.”
 
The Carbonxt plant will convert coal into an activated carbon product that will help remove mercury from coal-fired plant emissions.
 
Carbonxt has been operating a pilot plant in Charleston for years. It also spent four years at Mingo County Wood Products Industrial Park as part of a research and development project called CENfuel, which was focused on chemical purification of coal and coal waste.
 
“I would also like to salute Bayer CropScience, which stepped up to the plate by leasing six acres at its Institute site,” Ballard said. “Bayer understands the potential impact of an investment of this magnitude, and the entire region will benefit. This new investment demonstrates the value to the bottom line for companies seeking to invest in strategic locations where the infrastructure already exists to support chemical manufacturing.”
 
The Charleston Area Alliance is a business membership organization focusing on economic and community development in the Charleston-Metro area.  It is supported by more than 650 private businesses, the Kanawha County Commission and the City of Charleston.