The Ascensus Specialties chemical plant in Elma is beefing up its capabilities with a new dryer that is now under construction. The company was formerly called Vertellus Performance Chemicals, but as of May 1 it has separated and become a stand-alone company.

Site leader Jim Beerbower said having the third dryer to create sodium borohydride, the final product they ship, would allow them to stay ahead of other international plants.

“I visited China recently and saw some huge distillation columns, and it scared the crap out of me,” Beerbower said during the new dryer’s groundbreaking ceremony April 24. “Competing with the Chinese is very difficult. Without the influx and new capacity, we were strapped.”

The new dryer is estimated to cost about $8.5 million, and will be completed by the end of this year.

If you turn south at Elma to head toward Centralia and Portland, on your right you’ll quickly pass the Ascensus plant, recognizable for its large towers and tanks lined with dense bunches of pipes.

The plant has been in Elma since 1976, and after years its employees proudly promote themselves as the world’s largest producer of sodium borohydride. The chemical has a few different uses.

In the company’s early years, it was used to bleach pulp and paper used for newsprint, but demand for that has been reduced. Nowadays it’s used as a reduction chemical to create a large number of pharmaceuticals, and Beerbower said they sell to most of the world’s major pharmaceutical companies.

It’s also sold to some major beer companies, which use it on clear beer bottles to prevent the skunky quality that develops when bottles are left in the sunlight.

Over the years, Beerbower said the plant has also made significant improvements to reduce the number of evacuations they have.

“It used to be quite often we’d have a sodium leak and need the Elma Fire Department to show up,” Beerbower said while giving a tour of the control room for the plant. “That’s a rarity now. I can’t remember the last time we had a leak.”

In order to prevent competitors from knowing all their methods, Ascensus takes a few precautionary measures for anyone visiting. All workers and visitors are required to sign in and out from the plant, and certain parts of the facility are off limits to photography in order to prevent other companies from potentially copying the plant’s specifications.

“We’ve already got a problem with the Chinese building a plant, and a lot of it mirrors what we have,” said Robbie Jhanson, Ascensus’ environmental health and safety technician coordinator. “The only thing they don’t have is what temperatures we run, so we have to be really careful.”

Beerbower said all of the plant’s 77 employees live within 25 miles of the site, and that he wouldn’t know until the end of the year if the new dryer would mean increased jobs.

When addressing the employees and administrators at the groundbreaking event, Ascensus CEO and President Michael Huff said he was excited to make the investment to upgrade the plant.

“In our business, we have a single business globally that satisfies all the demands all over the world, and that site is right here in Elma,” said Huff. “It’s one of the best manufacturing sites I’ve been involved in, and we’re thrilled to be putting money into this business and expand capacity.”

LOUIS KRAUSS | THE DAILY WORLD From left, Ascensus Specialties Vice President of Operations and Supply Chain Mario Sandoval, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Guy Windey, President and CEO Mike Huff, Elma Site Director Jim Beerbower, and Vice President and CFO Craig Wien stand at the groundbreaking event for the plant’s new dryer.

LOUIS KRAUSS | THE DAILY WORLD The Ascensus Specialties plant in Elma has begun construction for its third dryer in this section on the rear side of the facility.