DES MOINES –Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey today announced that Keck Energy of Des Moines and Galva Holstein Ag of Galva are the 2009 winners of the Secretary’s Biodiesel and Ethanol Marketing Awards.  The awards were created by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship to recognize fuel marketers that have gone above and beyond in their efforts to sell renewable fuels. “Iowa is the leading producer of renewable fuels and it is retailers and distributors, like these two companies, that are the link between that industry and the customers who are using the product,” Northey said.  “Keck Energy and Galva Holstein Ag have both made promoting renewable fuels an important part of their businesses and these awards are an opportunity to recognize them for their efforts.” The Secretary’s Ethanol and Biodiesel Marketing Awards were designed to recognize businesses that market the renewable fuels they have available through creative efforts including, but not limited to: hosting special events highlighting their renewable fuels, development of creative signage, initiation of new advertisements or marketing efforts, and dramatically increase pump availability. The winners were announced during the Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Stores of Iowa Annual Meeting in Des Moines on Jan. 13th.  The Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores of Iowa (PMCI) is a non-profit state trade association serving the needs of independent petroleum marketers and convenience store owners throughout the state of Iowa. Biodiesel Mark Meyer of Keck Energy of Des Moines is the 2009 Secretary’s Biodiesel Marketing Award winner for their efforts to expand the availability of biodiesel and promote it’s usage by their customers.  Meyer is President of Keck Energy and has worked to promote biodiesel usage at both the wholesale and retail level. In particular, Meyer and Keck Energy have been involved on the ground level in preparing for and responding to the issues facing biodiesel and other biofuels.  Meyer was nominated by Randy Meyer from Kum & Go for the award. Ethanol Delayne Johnson of Galva Holstein Ag in Galva is that 2009 Secretary’s Ethanol Marketing Award winner for their efforts to promote ethanol and expand the availability of higher ethanol blends.  They have been long-term advocates of renewable fuels and this year were the first fuel retailers in Iowa to install an ethanol blender pump, which allows customers with FlexFuel vehicles to select from a number of different ethanol blends.  Galva has one of only 9 blender pumps currently operating in the state. Galva Holstein Ag has aggressively marketed E85 and as a result has seen very strong sales, even though their pumps are located in rural communities.  Their promotional efforts have included newspaper articles and advertisements, radio talk shows, company newsletters, direct mail to owners of FlexFuel vehicles, signage and auto dealer/service technician training. Johnson was nominated by Lucy Norton from the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. Renewable Fuels Industry Overview Iowa is the leader in the production of renewable fuels.  According to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, Iowa has 35 ethanol refineries with a combined annual capacity of over 3 billion gallons in operation.  Iowa only uses approximately 1.6 billion gallons of gasoline annually, which makes the state a net exporter of gasoline product, without pumping a single gallon of oil from the ground. In addition, Iowa is the leading producer of biodiesel with 14 plants producing nearly 318 million gallons of biodiesel annually from products grown in the state of Iowa. “Iowa is truly the national leader in renewable fuels, and that would not be possible without support from retailers across the state that market these home-grown fuels,” Northey said. - 30 -