ACE 2024 Awards Honor Ethanol Industry Contributors

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) honored a select group of advocates for their contributions to the ethanol industry during its 37^th annual conference this month in Omaha.

The Merle Anderson Award, named after the organization’s founder, went to John Christianson of Christianson PLLP this year. ACE CEO Brian Jennings, along with ACE board president Dave Sovereign, representing Golden Grain Energy, and ACE board member Ron Alverson, 2023 recipient of the Merle Anderson Award, representing Dakota Ethanol, presented the award to John.

As a young, certified public accountant in the early 1980s, John gained experience and made meaningful connections during the challenging farm crisis years. In the 1990s, he was approached by a group of local farmers wanting financial consulting to start an ethanol plant, one of the first in Minnesota, Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company. The launch was a success. Soon Christianson & Associates was known as part of the ‘Minnesota Model’ and was supporting ethanol start-ups and clients across the nation. His company was instrumental in developing dozens of ethanol plants during the construction boom of the 2000s. John was influential in developing and delivering Biofuels Benchmarking™ for ethanol plants to access industry data, insights and reports.

“Receiving the American Coalition for Ethanol Merle Anderson Award is true honor,” Christianson said. “The majority of my career has been dedicated to supporting renewable energy and the future of farming. This award is a testament to the team I work with every day who are dedicated to making a difference. In the ethanol industry, where every drop represents a step towards a cleaner, greener planet, this honor is a reminder that the work we do today lays the foundation for a better tomorrow.”

John left his managing partner role at the firm to become a director in 2021. He is also the President at Beyond, A Christianson Company. Beyond offers software solutions connecting plant operations and accounting. Additionally, he is a member of the Minnesota Governor’s Biofuels Council and a current board member and Treasurer of ACE.

Prior to the retailer panel during the conference, Ron Lamberty, ACE Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), presented the Paul Dana Marketing Vision Award to Jeff Carpenter, U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Program Manager of the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP). Carpenter’s work providing convenience store owners and operators of all sizes with hands-on assistance navigating the HBIIP application process has helped many of the small retailers ACE typically works with apply for grants to begin offering higher ethanol blends to their customers. In addition, Carpenter’s efforts promoting HBIIP and gathering feedback from prospective retailers at fuel industry events, along with ongoing conversations with ACE and other ethanol stakeholders about HBIIP challenges and opportunities, help him keep USDA updated on ways to make the program more accessible, particularly for single stores and small chains that own and operate 60% of the fuel retail sites in the U.S.

“As a federal employee we usually stay behind the scenes, so receiving this award is certainly unexpected and I’m honored,” Carpenter said. “There’s a lot of strong, bipartisan support for HBIIP, and I’m proud of the work USDA has done so far as a result of the historic Inflation Reduction Act. There is significant need for and interest in this program. USDA currently has nearly 900 applications requesting about 800 million in funding, and that’s just what has been submitted.”

ACE CMO Ron Lamberty presented the Grassroots Award to Randy Gard during the same retailer panel. The strength of ACE is in our collective grassroots members and ACE provides this award to devoted individuals who work behind the scenes to advance the cause of ethanol. In addition to behind-the-scenes work with USDA on the HBIIP program and being involved in state legislation affecting ethanol and fuel marketers in Nebraska, Gard recently helped shape and pass legislation to incentivize Nebraska retailers who offer ethanol blends of 15% or higher.

“ACE and other organizations have been instrumental for a retailer like Bosselman to understand HBIIP and the benefits of offering higher ethanol blends,” Gard said. “At the end of the day, we’re in the business of making money. The cornerstone of any convenience store is fuel, and we chase pennies. Higher blends help us offer lower prices, attract new customers, sell more gallons, make more money on those gallons and we’re better off for it. Without HBIIP and Nebraska’s higher blend tax credit legislation that passed a few years ago, we probably wouldn’t be offering ethanol to the extent we do today.”

ACE also presented the 2024 Policy and Legislative Leadership Award to U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (NE), for her strong leadership on biofuel issues, from her ongoing commitment to ensuring consumer access to E15 through the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act (S. 2707) to her staunch advocacy for farmers, keeping the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) on track and recognizing the role ethanol plays in uplifting rural communities and decarbonizing our transportation sector. Senator Fischer couldn’t join the conference in person but provided pre-recorded remarks for the conference attendees.

For photos, interviews and videos from the 2024 ACE conference, visit the virtual newsroom.