The loss of the planned power plant will have an impact on the local economy. The Cedar Valley has an opportunity to overcome this impact, but it will require focus and perseverance. Iowa already is a leading supplier of agricultural commodities and already has the infrastructure and production wherewithal to produce crops for food, fuel, and chemicals.

Although slower than we all would like, the community has a start on the TechWorks project, which could make the Cedar Valley into the "Mall of America" of biobased products, though this won't happen overnight, and the "mall" will be in open air.

Since 2000, a congressionally mandated committee called the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee has been advising the secretaries of agriculture and energy on what research areas the country should focus on to reduce dependence on petroleum. With input from all regions of the country, this committee has identified three key areas for research and development: biofuels, biopower and bioproducts. Hundreds of millions of dollars continue to be allocated for research based on the recommendations of BRDTAC.

During the last few years, due to an increase in the demand for petroleum and the increased cost of transportation fuels, most of the investment and focus emphasized biofuels. But the food-fuel controversy, the current economic slump and the rapid drop in petroleum prices have caused a pause and time to reflect on our strengths and long-term economic opportunities.

Cedar Valley already is on the right track to capitalize on the coming biobased economic development. For Deere and Co., the support for biobased economic development is natural, as it serves its client farmers. The focus, though, should be on promoting and attracting business opportunities that deal with all three areas: biofuels, biopower and bioproducts. The biopower portion of the BRDTAC deals with biomass pellets, for example, for co-burning in coal power plants, or co-generation using methane gas. The UNI-NABL Center has established national name recognition as a center of excellence for biolubricants. The Cedar Valley region is ripe with other biobased technologies. Bio-plastic, composite, adhesives, fiberboard and numerous other products are in early stages of commercialization and can become a part of the Cedar Valley shopping mall.

The Cedar Valley community should persevere and promote such ideas within the vision of TechWorks and other development projects active in our communities. Iowa has the infrastructure to produce crop based food, fuel, chemicals and products. The vision developed by national experts indicates a future less dependent on petroleum, more self-reliant and more decentralized energy production. It's our national policy, its being funded and Iowa already has a head start. The power plant would have been an economic positive, but we can create even greater economic gains through renewing our biobased economic development efforts.