Hastings County Council will consider becoming a Bioeconomy Development Opportunity Zone, or BDO, in the near future.
Tuesday, the county’s Planning and Development Committee heard a presentation from the firm Ecostrat explaining how being designated as a BDO might help the county grow its economy.
Aryn Garswood of Ecostrat told the committee what a BDO Zone is.
“We often compare BDO Zone ratings to credit ratings but instead of assessing credit risk we’re looking at bio-mass feedstock and infrastructure risk within a specific geographic location.”
A region with a high BDO Zone rating can attract bio-based industry manufacturing things such as renewable chemicals, biogas, sustainable aviation fuel, and bio-products.
Ecostrat will provide BDO Zone communities with access to $1 billion in private capital and connect them with bio-based businesses around the world.
Hastings County has a surplus of woody residuals from the forestry industry which could make it a prime candidate for designation as a BDO Zone.
Staff will bring a report back to committee for discussion. A BDO Zone rating process would cost around $85,000.
Since 2021, sixty regions, almost all in the U.S., have been declared BDO Zones. There are two such regions in Ontario with those being around Sarnia and Renfrew.
See Ecostrat’s entire presentation on BDO Zones here.
