Rivertop Renewables has proclaimed a capital improvement project to construct a semi-works plant for the manufacture of green chemicals at its Missoula-based headquarters.
Montana Technology Enterprise Center (MonTEC) has received a grant worth $3.5 million to speed up the commercialization of its green materials. The grant was awarded by the University of Montana (UM) and the Economic Development Administration (EDA) of the U.S. Commerce Department. Moreover, Rivertop will invest a private capital amount of $2.5 million for the project.
Rivertop will build the semi-works facility to evaluate the expenditures of commercialization. The company will initially produce glucaric acid in pilot scale followed by pilot-scale manufacturing of other sugar acids. The semi-works plant will have an annual capacity of 100,000 lbs of product and will be the basic engineering model to construct a commercial-scale facility in the future.
The EDA has chosen the MonTEC project as it can improve the economy of the region. The strong support provided by the university and the regional economic development partners such as the BitterRoot Economic Development District helped in the plan development between public and private divisions.
The Missoula Area Economic Development Foundation, in partnership with the University of Montana, has established the MonTEC. The objective of the MonTEC is to support start-up companies in the Missoula region and to endorse the commercialization of products developed by UM research. Rivertop's green chemical technology was developed in the UM lab. Glucaric acid was the first product to be manufactured using the renewable chemical technology.