The NCERC hosts Bipartisan Policy Center Visitors for American Congressional Exchange
News Release
Contact: Claire Weinzierl
cweinzierl@ethanolresearch.com
(618) 659-6737 ext. 260
EDWARDSVILLE – The National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center (NCERC) hosted two prominent visitors this week in an effort known as the American Congressional Exchange Program (ACE).
United States Congressman Rodney Davis (R-IL) and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) made their final stop at the NCERC to conclude their joint trip.
Congressman Davis, a member of the Republican Party, has served as the U.S. Representative for Illinois’ 13th congressional district since 2013. Congresswoman Rochester, a member of the Democratic Party, has served as the U.S. Representative for Delaware’s at-large congressional district since 2017.
The ACE Project is a systematic approach to building better relationships and bipartisanship in Congress, apart from the typical Washington D.C. locale. Participating Members of Congress of the opposite political party agree to visit the major attractions, and the economic, social and cultural attributes of each other’s district. Meetings with civic, business, religious, education and other key leaders are also encourage under the ACE Project.
The Congressional Visitors and their staff met with NCERC Executive Director John Caupert, who provided an overview of the NCERC’s purpose and mission, and then proceeded with a tour of the facility.
“We are honored to have hosted U.S. Congressman Rodney Davis and U.S. Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester, as part of the American Congressional Exchange program. If there are two sectors of the economy, that epitomize bi-partisanship, it’s agriculture and biofuels. We are grateful to the Bipartisan Policy Center, for including NCERC in the effort to promote bi-partisanship in Congress.
NCERC is not only the trusted source for research in Generation 1 biofuels, but, we’re paving the way for broad adoption of Generation 1.5 and Generation 2 biofuels. NCERC’s efforts expand far beyond biofuels, as our portfolio of work includes contractual research and production of bioproducts, biomaterials and biochemicals. None of these efforts would be possible without people, and NCERC’s education and workforce training initiatives are known across many sectors of the bioeconomy. We are forever humbled, for having had the opportunity to share our portfolio of work, capabilities and our people, with Congressman Davis and Congresswoman Rochester.”
The tour included a look at the NCERC’s analytical and fermentation labs, fermentation suite and pilot plant, led by the NCERC Staff.
ACE is a project of the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC). BPC is a non-profit organization that combines the best ideas from the Republican and Democratic parties to promote health, security, and opportunity for all Americans.
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About The NCERC
The NCERC is a nationally recognized research center dedicated to the development and commercialization of biofuels, specialty chemicals and other renewable compounds. The Center’s fully functional dry grind pilot plant and laboratories are equipped with advanced biofuels capabilities including corn fractionation, pretreatment, and a fermentation suite with 5, 30, 150 and 1500L scale-up. Facilities are staffed by industry veterans with more than 100 years of collective experience in fermentation and biofuels production. This knowledgeable team has the flexibility and expertise to design and carry out projects in any region of the advanced biofuels or specialty chemicals space. For more information, contact Courtney Breckenridge, (618) 659-6737 ext. 230, cbreckenridge@ethanolresearch.com, or visit http://www.ethanolresearch.com.
