By L. Parsons Last week, Winslow was visited by C6 Zero, a green manufacturer based in Colorado. The group addressed the Winslow City Council on Tuesday. Chris Koehn, a partner in the business explained what the company does and its plans to move into Winslow’s industrial area. “C6 Zero is a manufacturer and according to the Environmental Protection Agency, we are pollution prevention. So, we take post-consumer asphalt shingles and through a proprietary process and equipment, we remanufacture those into oil, aggregate and fiberglass that is used in the marketplace.” According to an informational video shown to the council, 11 million tons of asphalt shingles are thrown away each year and placed into landfills, eventually reaching the water supply. According to information on the video, 924 million gallons of oil is released into landfills. To put that into perspective, one of the biggest oil spills in history was estimated to be over 160 million gallons. The process of ‘cleaning’ the shingles was explained. “Imagine a washing machine, the shingles enter this machine, are cleaned with a proprietary solution and come out the other side in their three main parts. No extra waste is created, all parts are reused, repurposed and resold.” Koehn continued, “Why Winslow? We have been asked this question a number of times and the answer is simple. We are capitalists, so we believe that work without profit is foolish. So, you have the right geographic location, right on the BNSF mainline. There are 45 million people that live within a 500-mile radius. That presents enough feed stock (the shingles) for us, and the climate is fantastic and there are plenty of resources for outdoor recreation. The quality of life for our staff and our team members is important. “Logistically, the railroad is a major resource. All of our products are shipped by rail. Your labor market is exactly what we desire. We work extensively in rural communities on workforce development. The graduating student profile from Winslow High School is exactly what we are looking for. As well as your community college offerings of the degree certifications that we need.” The company will be investing in infrastructure such as broadband extension and office space as they make their move into Winslow. Koehn made sure the council understood his company’s passion for working in and sharing profits with rural areas. “We come from rural America, and when we found Winslow it just felt like home. All of our partners live, own and operate companies in rural America and this will just be an extension of that.” The C6 Zero project is set to begin their first phase by the end of 2020. They will be located in the Winslow industrial area on Highway 87 just south of town, as soon as that property is appropriately annexed from Navajo County. That process is already underway. Koehen continued, “We have won awards for our workforce development in rural Colorado and plan to do the same in Winslow.” Their intention is to staff the company from management to the labor force with local people. It is unclear how many jobs will be created in total, however, application information is available on the C6 website at www.c6zero.com and 50 to 75 jobs should be available within the first six months of operation.
