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2 CapitalPress.com Friday, March 8, 2019 People & Places From drywall to soil amendment Urban Gypsum opens new facility in Portland EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER Established 1928 Board of Directors Western Innovator By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press PORTLAND — An exca- vator sits atop a large pile of crumbled drywall at a North Portland warehouse, where Casey Lane, president of Urban Gypsum, explains how the rubbish is actu- ally a valuable commodity for farmers looking to grow healthier crops. Rather than sending wall- board to the landfill, Urban Gypsum is reaching out to local building contractors to bring the material into its 75,000-square-foot facility, where it is processed into a flour-like powder consisting of nearly 100 percent recy- cled gypsum for agricultural and industrial uses. Gypsum, a soft mineral composed of calcium sul- fate, is a widely used fer- tilizer that provides plant nutrition while improving aeration in compact soils, allowing better drainage and deeper root penetration. It is also the primary ingredient in drywall, of which 15 million tons is currently sitting in landfills across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Lane is familiar with the struggle. Urban Gypsum is just one division of Willa- mette Construction Services Inc., which includes gen- eral contracting and demo- lition. Lane figures the com- pany was spending upwards of $500,000 a year haul- ing heavy drywall to the dump. Not only does weight at the landfill equal dollars, but Lane said a potentially lucrative business opportu- nity was slipping through their fingers. “To turn our garbage into a commodity, and to turn our waste stream into a reusable (product), really was the key,” Lane said. URBAN GYPSUM President: Casey Lane Opened: 2018 Location: North Portland Size: 75,000 square feet Services: Processing drywall into recycled gypsum Capacity: 140,000 tons annually George Plaven/Capital Press Casey Lane, center, is president of Urban Gypsum, a Portland-based company that recycles drywall to make agricultural gypsum. His son, Taylor, and mother, Bonnie, also work at the family-run business. The company It was Lane’s parents, Jerry and Bonnie, who established the family’s first business, Lane Con- crete Cutting, in 1977. From there, they began to diver- sify, adding demolition ser- vices in 1994 and branching further out across multiple divisions. Willamette Construction Services now includes Lan- eco, which does demolition, concrete cutting, under- ground utilities and exca- vation; GDSI, which han- dles demolition and asbestos abatement; JDL General Contracting; and Urban Gypsum, a single-source drywall recycling center. The company moved into its new building in 2018, with more than 10 times the space of its former loca- tion in Portland. After just a few months, Lane is already envisioning nationwide expansion. “We expect to open mul- tiple facilities around the U.S.,” he said. Patent pending The patent is pend- ing for the recycling pro- cess at Urban Gypsum, but in essence drywall is run through machinery that sep- arates the gypsum from the paper backing and collects the resulting powder in large bags. The paper is also col- lected and can be used to make products such as ani- mal bedding and packag- ing, making the process zero waste. Urban Gypsum has a fleet of trucks and Dumpsters that can haul drywall directly from the construction site to its facility, ensuring mate- rial bypasses the landfill. Lane said the product is rig- orously inspected, and com- panies that send loads must fill out a survey to ensure the gypsum meets a minimum purity of 99.3 percent. “We can categorically say that we have done all of our proper testing and planning before one load even enters this facility,” Lane said. Scott Freeman, opera- tions manager at Urban Gyp- sum, said it took months of planning and working with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Metro, which covers land use and development across the Portland metro area, to get the recycling center permitted. “It’s something they’ve been wanting for a long time,” Freeman said. “This has been tried before and failed by other companies.” Urban Gypsum has a full-time agronomist, Wade Schirmer, on staff reach- ing out to agricultural sup- pliers who have expressed interest in carrying the prod- uct. Gypsum is 150 to 200 times more soluble than lime, Schirmer said, and its aeration properties could be especially useful in the wet, heavy soils of the Willa- mette Valley. “The growers have a real keen interest,” Schirmer said. “Just getting them trained, it actually has the potential to displace sig- nificant other products as a plant food.” Cost-effective By capturing gypsum from local drywall scraps, Schirmer added the com- pany can provide a much more cost effective supply of product, as opposed to buying and shipping it from mines in Nevada, Utah and Canada. He said the added freight makes gypsum twice as expensive from those sources as it would be from their company. Employees: Approxi- mately 180 across all di- visions under Willamette Construction Services Inc. “It’s a rather inexpensive product, but the handling and trucking makes it cost prohibitive,” he said. Tom Wimmer, chief operating officer at Marion Ag Service in St. Paul, Ore., says they have had conver- sations with Urban Gypsum since the new drywall recy- cling center opened. While there have not yet been any field tests between Urban Gypsum and Marion Ag Service, Wimmer said he does believe there could be a profitable market. “There is a lot of bene- fit for that, to help build the soil integrity,” he said. “I think the market is there, if you have a readily available source.” At full capacity, Urban Gypsum will create up to 140,000 tons of gypsum powder annually. Lane said the goal is to get to full production, and envi- sions opening a second facility within the next year. “We have turned a lot of heads and gained a lot of attention in a very pos- itive way,” he said. “This will be a nationwide product.” CSS Farms grows seed potatoes as part of its portfolio By ERICK PETERSON For the Capital Press With seed farms and pro- duction facilities in nine states, CSS Farms stretches across the U.S. and it prides itself on having a culture of “doing it right.” Its vision statement includes a commitment toward “cultivating people, leadership and new technol- ogy,” as it seeks to be their customers’ preferred sup- plier. It also defines its core values as a commitment to excellence, teamwork, integrity, entrepreneurial drive, innovation and farm- ing lifestyle. For Laurie Widdowson, CSS marketing and devel- opment manager, that vision statement and core values are not mere filler material for the company website’s “About” section. They rep- resent strong feelings that she and other CSS employees feel toward their company. CSS, she says, is a special organization that is devoted to quality. In 1986, CSS began by the Carter and Spevak fam- ilies in the small town of Watertown, South Dakota. Soon afterward, it expanded to Nebraska, Texas and other states, while creating new said. CSS strives to zero infection, even when legal requirements are less strict. The CSS commitment to order is on display at its seed farm and sorting facility in Ione, Ore. The company moved into the location five years ago. Protective masks, booties and gloves are worn. Conditions are clean and tidy. “We maintain a ster- ile environment here,” said Don Atwood, Ione seed farm storage manager, speak- ing of the operations at the Boardman sorting facility that he helps to oversee. He explained that clean- liness is especially import- ant for Ione operations, since that place deals in seed, rather than food prod- uct. Seed is grown in Ione, distant enough to avoid con- tamination from other potato growers. There, it produces chip, russet and specialty varieties on 750 acres before trucking them to a sorting facility in nearby Boardman. Mick Peck, Ione seed farm manager, shares Atwood’s pride concern- ing cleanliness. He has been with the company five years, and he boasts of sterilization processes, employee safety and many other aspects of CSS. He is impressed by much of the company’s work, including the decision to begin operations in north- eastern Oregon. He started at CSS just when it was develop- ing the concept of its cur- rent Ione work. Starting a seed farm just outside the Columbia Basin was inge- nious, he said. Its position, upwind from other ag pro- ducers, provided low insect and disease pressure. This would be beneficial to mak- ing good seed, and this plan has turned out well, accord- ing to Peck. “Many people were skep- tical when our owners had the plan to grow seed pota- toes this close to the Colum- bia Basin,” he said. “All of their reasons for why they thought it world work have turned out to be true.” For Peck, the CSS fore- sight in knowing good opportunities is a large part of what makes it an excel- lent company. He is also impressed with the technol- ogy that preserves product, the professionalism of his coworkers, the long ship- ping schedule and the will- ingness to take chances on good opportunities. “I feel really good about being here,” he said. “We all do.” SATURDAY, MARCH 16 FRIDAY, MARCH 22 Amity Daffodil Festival: 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Amity Daffodil Fes- tival, 401 S. Trade St., Amity, Ore. View numerous varieties of daf- fodils showcased by the Oregon Daffodil Society. Children through adults are encouraged to partici- pate by bringing in a home-grown daffodil for judging by 11 a.m. Grab lunch at one of the local eat- eries and round out the day with wine tasting at the local wineries. Experience the fun of a small town festival, celebrate spring and learn about daffodils. Eve E Silverman, eesilverman@yahoo.com, 503-835- 0374. www.AmityDIG.org. Oregon FFA Convention: Deschutes Fair & Expo Center, 3800 Southwest Airport Way, Redmond, Ore. This convention is the culmination of the year’s work for FFA members across the state. https://bit.ly/2EarKxo Northwest Horse Fair and Expo: Linn County Fair and Expo Center, 3700 Knox Butte Road, Albany, Ore. Horse-related edu- cation, entertainment and shop- ping. http://equinepromotions.net/ northwest-horse-fair/. https://bit.ly/2EarKxo Northwest Horse Fair and Expo: Linn County Fair and Expo Cen- ter, 3700 Knox Butte Road, Albany, Ore. http://equinepromotions.net/ northwest-horse-fair/. Clackamas Tree School: 8:15 a.m.- 5:15 p.m., Clackamas Community Col- lege, 19600 S Molalla Ave., Oregon City. Oregon’s largest forestry and nat- ural resource education event. There are 650 spots available and this event typically fills up fast. Tree School attendees can choose from a range of topics to support successful man- agement of their woodlands Clacka- mas County taxpayers $55; non-resi- dents $70; ages 6-20 $25. http://bit. ly/TreeSchoolClackamas. CSS FARMS Founded: 1986 Locations: Colorado, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Oregon, Idaho, Texas, Washington, Florida and South Dakota Acres: 14,000 (nationwide), 750 (Ione Seed Farm) Products: mostly potatoes, but also organic green peas, sweet corn and wheat Employees: 300 (regular full-time nationally), 800 (season- ally nationwide) partnerships and building its customer base. Today, CSS operates on a total of 14,000 acres of farmland and employs 300 full-time employees through the year. When Widdowson and other CSS management speak of company staff, they are particular about the words they use. They are not just “employing workers,” they are “cultivating” and “nurturing” them. “It takes quality people to create a quality product,” she said. And in order to have quality people, a company must assist them in devel- oping skills, leadership abil- ities and community activ- ism. “Our communities are everything,” she said. As part of nurturing staff, CSS sends its employees through training courses, such as annual agron- omy programs. Leaders, researchers and workers gather for studies and dis- cussion. They learn about the condition of the year’s potato crop, and they seek methods for improving their company. Other employee educa- tion programs include stud- ies in new technology and worker safety. Widdowson said that this learning is vital. “This is how we go from good to great,” she said. In addition to having top- notch people and programs to develop those people, CSS also concentrates on technology. Widdowson said that the company has excel- lent “clean seed protocols.” That is, it excels at keeping its product virus free. “We make a large finan- cial and personnel invest- ment to accomplish,” she CALENDAR SUNDAY, MARCH 10 Community Supported Agri- culture Share Fair: 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Ecotrust’s The Redd, 801 SE Salmon St., Portland. Share Fair gathers more than 40 regional farmers, ranchers and fishermen who serve the Portland area. The Portland Area CSA Coalition pro- motes Community Supported Agriculture by connecting local CSA farmers with households, educating the public about the CSA experience and the bene- fits of healthy eating and pro- viding farmers with opportuni- ties to learn, grow and meet their business and sustainability goals. www.portlandcsa.org. Home Orchard Society Annual Fruit Propagation Fair: 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Clackamas County Fair- grounds, 694 NE Fourth Ave., Canby, Ore. Hundreds of varieties of free sci- ons and cuttings will be available. If you graft, this is paradise. Or you can choose custom grafting by experts for only $5. Free with admission are hundreds of varieties of apple, pear, cherry, plum and persimmon scions; cuttings of grapes, kiwis and figs; and experts to answer your fruit grow- ing questions. Joanie Cooper, host- rees@gmail.com, 503-434-7643. $5 for members (family $10), $7 for non-members (family $12). Admission is free if you join HOS at this show. www.homeorchardsociety.org. SATURDAY, MARCH 23 Oregon FFA Convention: Deschutes Fair & Expo Center, 3800 Southwest Airport Way, Redmond, Ore. 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