On Sept. 9, I published a news article about Bridgeport Biodiesel preparing to expand operations after Tri-State Biodiesel and its parent company, The Sustainable Biodiesel Company, partnered with New Jersey-based Lard-NABF LLC to purchase and upgrade the Connecticut-based facility. The purchase agreement was announced last November.

“We have the plant running at 2 MMgy now,” Baker told Biodiesel Magazine in September, “and we have just received our building permits to add a tank farm and another large process line that will take the total capacity to 10 MMgy at the site.”

Last week, on Oct. 24, a groundbreaking ceremony hosted by Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch was held initiating the expansion.

Tri-State Biodiesel expects to create an additional 25 jobs, targeted to residents of the low-income community, within the first two years of operation.

“We’re thrilled that Tri-State Biodiesel is expanding in our state’s largest city,” said Finch. “In Bridgeport, we believe that cities need to take leadership on going green for the sake of future generations. And, we’re winning the future by developing Eco-Technology Park—an incubator for business growth and home to hundreds of green jobs—with the support of successful companies like Tri-State Biodiesel. It’s one of the many reasons why Bridgeport is getting better every day.”

Capital provided by NDC’s Grow America Fund will support the construction of a new state-of-the-art biodiesel plant, where Tri-State Biodiesel will manufacture and distribute biodiesel fuel. NDC’s Grow America Fund also partnered with the The JPMorgan Chase Foundation’s Collaboratives Program, which is designed to help small business lenders build capacity and to jumpstart job creation in low- and moderate-income communities.

Congratulations Tri-State Biodiesel!