Fairfield County Business Journal 11062017

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10 | BUSINESS EXIT ADVICE November 6, 2017 | VOL. 53, No. 45

15 | HOSPITAL HELPERS

YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR REGIONAL BUSINESS NEWS

westfaironline.com

Danbury company bets on liquid wood for heating BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com

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The MGM Resorts project marked the latest chapter in a long, complex and frequently frustrating effort to transform Steel Point from a troubled corner of the city into an economic powerhouse that would fuel both Bridgeport and Fairfield County . For decades, Steel Point was the subject of grand announcements of development projects, but its progress has been mostly measured in fits and spurts . A 52-acre peninsula on Bridgeport’s eastern edge, bounded by the Yellow Mill Channel, the Pequonnock River and the Long Island Sound, Steel Point was established as a center of shipbuilding operations in the 18th and early 19th centuries . Manufacturing began to take root in the

ost people are familiar with “liquid smoke,” the seasoning used to add a freshly grilled flavor to food . But what about liquid wood? While just as oxymoronic as liquid smoke, liquid wood could prove to be a real game-changer when it comes to producing renewable, carbon-efficient fuel . That is one of the bets being made by Preferred Utilities Manufacturing Corp ., an engineering-based manufacturer of products for commercial, institutional, industrial and nuclear power facilities in Danbury . Its products include fuel oil handling systems and components, boiler instrumentation and controllers, high-quality burners and nuclear power plant outage reduction tools and component parts . “We specialize in technology and advances within the fuel sector, not mass production,” said David Bohn, president and CEO of Preferred Utilities Manufacturing, “and as part of that we maintain an interest in alternative and renewable fuels .” It was with that interest in mind that Ensyn Corp ., a Canadian company that produces biocrude, a synthetic fuel, from forest and agricultural residues that can be used for heating and cooling applications, first approached the Danbury manufacturer three years ago . Ensyn wanted to see if Preferred Utilities could develop a liquid wood burner system that would be as reliable and inexpensive to use as a traditional fuel system . As is the case with liquid smoke, liquid wood is produced by a thermochemical process called pyrolysis, by which wood is burned and, in the absence of oxygen,

» STEEL POINT, page 6

» LIQUID WOOD, page 6

A view of the Steelpointe Harbor area on the Bridgeport waterfront. Photo by Phil Hall

Resort casino is latest gamble for Bridgeport’s Steel Point BY PHIL HALL phall@westfairinc.com

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n September, MGM Resorts International unveiled a proposal to build a $675 million luxury hotel and casino complex in the Steel Point section of Bridgeport . The announcement was not a total surprise, as three months earlier, MGM Resorts International

Chairman and CEO Jim Murren, a native of Bridgeport, said in an op-ed column that “Bridgeport has always been on our radar screen” for an MGM-branded casino but was not previously pursued because the state limited gaming to tribal lands . Murren set a 2021 opening for the Bridgeport project, which will require a change in state law to accommodate a nontribal gaming venue .


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