Elevance CEO K’Lynn Johnson, who was introduced to Natchez in June at the company’s announcement, said the company simply seized the biodiesel opportunity.

“The opportunity arose to operate the plant to produce biodiesel for Elevance customers, which allowed us to test the facility and provide better information to our engineering team on the plant’s capabilities as we progress the retrofit of the facility to a biorefinery,” Johnson said in a statement.

Trucks and barges have been the primary means of transportation of raw materials and biodiesel at the plant, Diesen said.

Port action

Port Director Anthony Hauer said Elevance’s biodiesel production campaign has given the port more jobs from that site than it ever had from Delta Fuels.

“In comparison to what occurred before the purchase, there’s a 100 percent increase (in port traffic from that site),” Hauer said.

Between three and eight barges a month have been either importing soybean oil or exporting biodiesel at the port for the Elevance plant, Hauer said.

That’s a minimum of 36 barges a year.

Hauer said port traffic varies year to year, but an average of total traffic is 260-275 barges a year.

“Thirty-six more barges is significant,” Hauer said.

“More is always good.”

Hauer said the port bills 13 regular clients monthly, but as many as 28 clients might use the port each month, so an additional client in Elevance makes a difference.

Welcome Kevin

Diesen, who has more than 25 years in the energy industry with BG Group, Innovene, BP and Amoco, is responsible for leading the retrofit process of the new biorefinery.

Diesen’s international experience includes three years living in Asia working on the design, construction and start-up of a chemical plant as well as three years managing health, safety and environment and asset integrity for facilities in North and South America. Diesen also spent two years as director of a product stewardship group managing issues for various areas around the globe.

His domestic experience includes management roles for two chemical plants as well as working as a divestment/acquisition project manager for a pipeline company.

Diesen has a master’s degree in business administration from DePaul University, a master’s in engineering management from the University of Missouri-Rolla and a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois.

Diesen said he has enjoyed getting settled into the community.

His family, including his wife, Sandy, and daughters Eliana and Brieta, moved to Natchez in January. The family currently rents a house downtown and will move into a new house south of town in May.

“We’re very glad to all be in one place,” Diesen said.

His daughters attend Cathedral School and are in the sixth and second grades.

“We’re loving Natchez right now,” Diesen said.

Diesen said it didn’t take long for the family to discover some of their favorite spots, which include the Malt Shop and Darby’s Famous Fudge.