Elisabeth Ward — Brown University, class of 2013, ecological sciences

Carrie Watkins — University of Illinois, class of 2015, honors engineering

Lauren Swierk — Indiana University, class of 2014, chemistry and environmental science

Madeline Acri — University of Illinois, class of 2015, mechanical engineering

Emily Hoch — New Trier High School, class of 2013, interested in pursuing a degree in chemistry

These impressive young women toured our facility and discussed career opportunities in research and development, manufacturing, technology and commercialization with Elevance team members Donde Anderson, Alice Boomhower, Celene DiFrancia and Michelle Morie-Bebel.  It was a fun-filled, educational morning that allowed the students to ask questions and explore possible career opportunities in the renewables industry.

We believe Elevance was able to showcase the exciting opportunities we and others have in the renewable chemicals industry and most importantly, how important science and technology is to the world around us. There has been considerable progress made by the renewables industry in 2011, and we believe that as both a company and an industry, we’re just getting started.  Our conversation with these young ladies was a great reminder about how exciting the future will be.  We wish them and you a happy and productive 2012!

We are pleased to announce that Elevance has moved to a great new (and much larger) facility located just minutes from our old location. Find us at our new home located at 2501 Davey Road in Woodridge, Ill.

We now have over 50,000 square feet of office space and an additional 25,000 square feet dedicated to our lab facilities to support further development of solutions for our customers. Our two-story building is adjacent to the Lemont Woods County Forest Preserve, and is surrounded by wooded wetlands and wildlife, which are both beautiful and serene.

Johnson served as DuPontʼs senior vice president of human resources and as a member of the office of the CEO from 2008 until his retirement in December 2010. Johnson also was the group vice president for global operations and engineering and was responsible for all DuPont manufacturing and engineering.

On behalf of the Elevance team and board of directors, welcome Don!

These are our very first, but not the last, of our Mississippi employees. We want to offer our gratitude to these employees for choosing to become a part of our team. Elevance is a place where passion, innovation and commitment to work will be noticed and makes a difference in what we do. It’s a part of who we are and what we become as a company together.

We look forward to building our future together with our newest employees as we continue to create a strong and important relationship with the gracious and historic community of Natchez and Adams County.

Together with Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, Elevance announced today that we will be coming to southwest Mississippi to build our first North American manufacturing facility, located near Natchez, Miss.

Over the next five years, Elevance will be investing in a multi-phase project at the former Delta BioFuels facility to convert the operation into a world-class bio-refinery and derivatives operation based on Elevance’s metathesis technology. The operation will complement our Asian Joint Venture with Wilmar International and expand our global footprint.

By building biorefineries in multiple geographies, we are responding to our customers’ demands for innovative environmentally friendly products in a cost-effective and scalable way and bringing competitive manufacturing and high-value jobs back to the United States.

The Governor, State of Mississippi and community of Nachez have been very supportive partners to help facilitate this project. We appreciate their support and are pleased to now be a part of the Natchez community.

The specialty chemicals produced by this run include alpha olefins and novel esters that will be used by our customers in applications such as surfactants for detergents and cleaners, personal care products, lubricants and additives for lubricants and fuels.

Elevance participated in several industry conferences over the past two weeks where interest in the company’s novel products and JV with Wilmar was high.

Company representatives attended the Lux Executive Summit in Boston and the 9th Annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology & Bioprocessing in Toronto.

In addition, Andy Shafer, Elevance EVP of Sales & Market Development, presented at the AOCS National Spring Meeting “Hot Topics” session on May 3, and at the ICIS 1st World Surfactants conference on May 13.

“The availability of our renewable olefins and novel, difunctional esters was a key topic of conversation at all of the conferences in both the presentations and in one-on-one meetings with customers,” Shafer said.

Elevance is pleased to welcome John Harvey, a 25-year veteran of the chemical industry, as vice president of manufacturing. John will be responsible for building Elevance’s manufacturing capability to support the start-up and operations of Elevance’s biorefineries.

John’s extensive knowledge of our customer’s needs and technology will allow for growth with our manufacturing partners. John has an impressive record of building motivated teams that have established safety records, controlled costs and improved profits in more than seven different production facilities.

John was previously site director for the Chocolate Bayou Olefins & Polypropylene manufacturing facility at INEOS Olefins & Polymers, an operation with more than $4 billion in assets. He also worked for Amoco and BP in various engineering and manufacturing capacities, including building and optimizing the production of engineering polymers, refinery products, foams, fibers and other intermediate and specialty chemicals.

Welcome to Elevance, John!

According to Ernst & Young, “VC investment in cleantech companies increased by 8% to $3.98 billion in 2010. Cleantech in Q4 2010 reached $979 million with 72 financing rounds. VC investment in cleantech in Q4 2010 reached $979 million with 72 financing rounds.”

This proves that activity in the cleantech industries is increasing, and Elevance is proud to be part of this emerging industry.

Our strong relationships with our investors and partners have helped Elevance grow significantly in the last three years as we continue development of high performance specialty chemicals and products.

With the support of these resources and technology, we have been able to move both our business and the bio-based industry forward in the past and look forward to significant additional advancements this year.