AMENICO managing directors include Tony Giunta, front, and back row, from left, Sarandis Karathanasis, David Ossoff and Greg Bryant.
Pittsfield, NH – American Energy Independence Co. has not just survived, it has flourished since it began in 2008 – despite a national recession and doing business in one of the most financially-challenged towns in New Hampshire.
“We could not have started at a worse time,” said Tony Giunta, an AMENICO co-founder and former mayor of Franklin.
But, Giunta said, “We picked up business as the economy fell of (and) we continued to grow through that period and we’re continuing to see exponential growth right now.”
AMENICO, which purchases used vegetable oil from restaurants and food service facilities and converts it into fuel, has grown from three employees in 2008 to 16 now.
In May the company notched its 650th client.
Hotel Signs On
The Radisson Manchester hotel recently signed on with AMENICO. Hotel manager Kim Roy said reducing her hotel’s environmental impact was something she “wanted to do for a long time.”
“I was excited. We’re always looking at ways to be a more responsible business,” Roy said.
The hotel disposes of about 100 gallons of vegetable oil a month from its two restaurants and function facility. “It couldn’t be more convenient,” Roy said. “They’re in the area. They provide you with a container and pick it up.”
AMENICO has thrived partly because it takes vegetable oil away from businesses at no charge. Under a traditional business model, businesses pay to get rid of the vegetable oil to manufacturers who ship it overseas to be used in a variety of products, such as farm animal feed and cosmetics. In AMENICO’s case, the company brings the oil back to its facility at 5 Main Street in Pittsfield, and converts it to renewable diesel, or advanced biofuel.
“We’ve turned the market upside down,” Giunta said. “We’ve turned (used vegetable oil) into a commodity.”
Oil Refinery
At AMENICO headquarters in the former Suncook Tannery building, the company refines waste vegetable oil through a proprietary advanced filtration process, and then blends the oil with traditional products to create a cleaner, more sustainable form of combustible energy.
AMENICO's products and services are led by the sale of biomass-based renewable diesel fuel, shown in the large vial, far left. The fuel is obtained by processing used vegetable oil , lower right, through various stages, into the finished product.
The company also sells specially enhanced products including vegetable oil multi-fuel boilers that companies use to reduce the dependence on traditional oil and gas furnaces. Company managers Sarandis Karathanasis, co-founder of Concord’s Red Blazer Restaurant and Pub, David Ossoff and Greg Bryant have also teamed up with Guinta at AMENICO to diversify the business.
AMENICO owns the New England distributorship for multi-fuel burners produced by KingBuilt Inc. of Wisconsin, and the New England distributorship for Golden Fuel Systems, a company that converts cars to run on vegetable oil. It also provides consulting services for companies that want to reduce their energy costs.
The renewable diesel produced by AMENICO makes up about 5 percent of the home heating oil or regular diesel fuel that it’s blended into, directly cutting the use of traditional oil or diesel, and helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, by as much as 80 percent in some cases, according to Giunta and AMENICO’s website.
Giunta said that in industrialized settings, the renewable diesel can make up 50 percent or more of what a company burns for energy. Businesses used as sources are sometimes more than willing to donate. “When you have a business owner that now has a choice of “I can pay to get rid of this product or I can pay nothing’ – it’s a no-brainer,” Giunta said. “And it’s right here in New Hampshire. We’re putting dollars back into the local economy.”
Home Base
AMENICO is happy to be based in Pittsfield, where, last October, the company announced that it had sold its one-millionth gallon of renewable diesel. “We picked Pittsfield because we liked the town so much,” said Sarandis Karathanasis, co0founder of AMENICO.
Pittsfield was the focus of the non-profit group Plan New Hampshire earlier this year who teamed with local officials to come up with ways to help the town’s economic viability. The group was specifically analyzing a 20-acre site near the center of town.
A final report has been completed, and was expected to be released early this month, according to town and Plan NH officials.
But Karathanasis said AMENICO has already benefitted from Pittsfiled’s attention.
“We’ve been welcomed with open arms. They’re interested in businesses, which is not the case in other communities,” he said.
Reprinted from the Manchester Union Leader
Monday, June 6, 2011
By Dan O’Brien
