Grays Harbor has a long heritage of ties with the fishing industry. Now, a trio of Grays Harbor companies with Ocean in their name are continuing that heritage in a green way.
First the fish are processed by Ocean Gold in Westport, and soon they will be stored and additionally processed at Ocean Cold Seafoods’ new cold storage facility being constructed in Westport. And in Hoquiam, Ocean Protein takes the remnants of that process and creates
valuable products from what used to be considered waste.
“What Ocean Protein is allowing all of the Ocean companies to do is take what was previously discarded and turn it into a viable commodity – it’s a process that uses the whole fish,” said Heidi Happonen of Happonen Communications.
Products created include a fish meal powder used in aquaculture for farmed fish as well as feed for livestock, and creating things such as fertilizers and Omega 3 for vitamins.
“While new here, this is a global market and this company is creating local jobs that had been going out of the country,” Happonen said.
Happonen Communications is the firm hired by Ocean Protein to help get their story out to the local community.
After a bumpy start, things have improved at the fish meal processing plant, and the company wants to share that news with the community.
“These are business people with a passion for Grays Harbor, and they are really good at their job as fishermen and really good at building a fish meal processing plant from the ground up. But, they are not necessarily communications experts, so they asked us to help them do better with that aspect of the business.”
Ocean Protein found Happonen Communications through Washington Manufacturing Services, working in conjunction with the GHEDC. (See story on WMS inside.)
Aaron Dierks, General Manager of Ocean Protein, expresses gratitude for the help received from the GHEDC.
“When we started this project and got it going we didn’t know about the EDC. We came in and started building and going it alone; we weren’t even aware of the services available,”
Dierks said.
“They provided a lot of assistance that first year when things were bad and ORCA was coming down hard. Roger Milliman helped get me through the process of how the
regulations work,” he said. It was also the GHEDC that recently suggested looking at public relations firms to help spread the word about the improvements made.
“I really can’t say enough good stuff about the help the GHEDC has provided; they have been great,” Dierks said.
The past winter was spent making upgrades to a state-of-the-art odor control system that Dierks is confident will work.
A significant amount of research went into the process of choosing this new technology, including a trip to Europe and visits to a number of fish meal plants on that continent.
“We looked at a couple of different designs for additional control, reviewed the pros and cons and settled on this one that is just coming into industrial use,” he said.
The “non-thermal plasma technology” uses a high voltage electrical field, similar to lightning, which generates free radicals. The free radicals oxidize odor compounds into an inert gas.
“It’s more environmentally friendly as we don’t have to use chemicals or burn natural gas,” Dierks said.
Happonen Communications has been busy preparing for a community campaign which will coincide with the beginning of Ocean Protein’s peak season in May. More than 60 people
work at the plant during peak season. A new video and a new website for Ocean Protein are nearing completion.
“We will use that video to go out into the community through civic organizations and other speaking engagements, and bring people into the plant for presentations, along with
open question and answer sessions, so people can see the real
story,” Happonen said.
Also, an economic impact study has been commissioned to look at the community benefits from Ocean Gold, Ocean Cold and Ocean Protein, including how many people are
employed and the impact on the local tax base, as well as the multiplier effect of these jobs in the community.
Ocean Protein is also very active in sponsoring a variety of community events, and are looking at opportunities to do more of that and show they are not just a business, but a part of the Grays Harbor community which is bringing a time-honored heritage into the 21st century.
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