February 10, 2017 - Cathy Dobson, Sarnia Journal - Professor Charles Xu is one satisfied customer.Nearly five years after leasing space at the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park so his team could work on turning forestry waste into adhesives and insulation, the product is out of the lab and ready for a testing plant in Thunder Bay.But before Xu relocated his staff of 10 Master�s and PhD students, the project spent about $500,000 in Sarnia and attracted a handful of new residents.And while that initiative has moved on, Xu was so pleased with the park�s facilities and personnel he�s applying for a grant to work on another one to convert corn stalks or wheat straw.�If we are successful in getting the funding we may be back to Sarnia this year,� he said.Xu�s research is just one example of how the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park on Modeland Road has really its stride after 13 years.The park, which provides space for research into bio-based products and helps clients get those products to market, is now 95% full.Twenty-four organizations employing about 100 people are currently working on projects, according to Katherine Albion, director of the park�s commercialization centre.Ideally, the companies that pay for space to develop new products also decide to build manufacturing facilities here.Albion said eight or nine �graduates� of the Sarnia park have established pilot plants locally.�The majority have stayed in Sarnia,� she said, pointing to the $186-million BioAmber plant built in 2015, and Comet Biorefining, a company that converts corn stalks and leaves into sugars used in plastics, paint and other products.Comet Biorefining intends to build a $70-million plant at the Trans Alta Energy Park on Vidal Street this year.�I think we�re seeing a shift in the local economy,� said Albion. �The park is meeting the needs of our tenants and they are finding a lot of the expertise they require in Sarnia.�The forestry biomass research is being tested in Thunder Bay because Sarnia doesn�t have close proximity to the pulp and paper industry. And the company involved has a testing plant in Thunder Bay already.The space it vacated is now occupied by Lambton College�s Centre for Industrial Material Development.�Some of our tenants stay and expand. Some go elsewhere,� said Albion. �It really varies depending on what their needs are.�Companies like Woodland Biofuels and GreenCore Composites have located their pilot plants at the research park, and a third is anticipated this year, Albion said.In 2003, Lambton County, Sarnia and Western University pooled their resources to establish the park as a way to diversity the local economy from petrochemical production.Today, the research park is recognized as Canada�s largest clean tech incubator and attracting international attention for its focus on environmentally sustainable technology.
