(January 26, 2010) Washington - Tomorrow night, President Obama will deliver his first State of the Union Address that will focus in large measure on job creation. The President will rightly target new public and private investments in clean energy and green jobs. As a longtime supporter of American biofuels such as ethanol, he knows that these investments reap rich returns in employment opportunities, economic growth, energy security, and environmental sustainability.

The economic collapse experienced last year adversely impacted all sectors of the economy. American biofuels were no exception. Yet, based on preliminary calculations, America’s ethanol continued to provide a strong economic base for many rural communities. Estimating 10.6 billion gallons of ethanol production in 2009, the RFA is calculating nearly 400,000 jobs are supported in some way by American ethanol production.

And, as the economy began to recover late in 2009, so too did the ethanol industry. In Janesville, Minnesota, for example, a formerly shuttered VeraSun Energy plant reopened as Guardian Energy. This new 120-million gallon a year ethanol plant is now not only the town’s largest employer, second only to the school district in the county, but also one of the biggest property taxpayers in the county.

These are good paying jobs, providing families the ability to make ends meet. According to the 2010 U.S. Ethanol Industry Salary study, nearly 75% of ethanol industry employees make more than $50,000 per year and 99% receive health care benefits from their employer.

Building upon the success of today’s industry, new companies with new technologies are preparing the next wave of economic opportunity resulting from American biofuels. In Alpena, Michigan, using an $18 million grant from the Department of Energy’s Biorefinery Assistance Program, American Process is building a pilot plant to convert wood waste to ethanol. It will result in 160 jobs.

These types of job-creating renewable biofuel projects are occurring all across America. As new facilities are built and new technologies perfected, scores of construction workers, engineers, chemists, accountants, maintenance workers, and a host of other careers will be born.

In contrast to imported oil, clean-burning, American-made ethanol is a proven way to achieve domestic job creation in an industry that has only begun to scratch the surface of its potential.

Ethanol is a “green” investment in both senses of the word – creating paychecks, improving the environment, and cutting dependence on foreign oil.