My name is Matt Kero. I’m the Director of Engineering & Manufacturing at Neuvokas, a local company, otherwise known by the product that we make…GatorBar. We manufacture GatorBar within a revitalized and repurposed industrial building, what used to be the machine shop for the Number 6 mine, on the outskirts of Ahmeek Location.

GatorBar is an innovative composite rebar constructed from fiberglass and resin for the reinforcement of concrete. What makes Neuvokas unique is that until we began making GatorBar in 2013, nobody within the industry had been able to figure how to economically produce a composite substitute for regular steel rebar. GatorBar’s success has in large part been accomplished as a result of never-before-considered manufacturing processes and material science improvements…as well as a good bit of sisu. We take immense pride in the fact that GatorBar is 100% Made in the USA in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The manufacturing processes, custom production lines and exclusive technologies were designed, developed and constructed from scratch using the know-how, ingenuity, tenacity and determination of local engineers, designers and fabricators. This has resulted in GatorBar now being a nationally known leader in composite rebar that is the turning the concrete reinforcement industry on its head.

Locally, GatorBar has been able to offer good paying production jobs with steady hours, often times including plenty of overtime, in Michigan’s least populated county that has few other long-term, non-tourism based employment opportunities. But, it’s not easy or clean work. It’s hot in the summer, glass fiber can be itchy and resins can be odorous. The latter is why I’m writing to you now.

This odor has become more noticeable over the course of the last four years as we have increased production and added capacity. At each stage of our growth, we have been very aware of impacting our neighbors and have attempted to mitigate that impact. We’ve added more air treatment and handling machinery, extended exhaust stacks higher into the air, implemented carbon-based filtration as well as adopting rigorous and extensive monitoring and measurement steps. Further, we’ve implemented a web-based neighborhood reporting process ensuring that we’re made aware of situations as they may occur.

We want to be good neighbors and to that end, we have been and remain fully engaged with MI’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) at all times to include weekly and bi-monthly meetings. In fact, there is a formal document called a consent order between our two organizations that is currently being finalized. That document will be released by EGLE for public viewing and comment once it has been finalized. At present, our ability to comment on that currently confidential document is limited but once released, we will have greater freedom.

Our impact on neighbors has been a high priority item within our company…we live in the Copper Country too. Our most recent production line was specifically designed and built using a Neuvokas developed bar encapsulation process that minimizes opportunity for odor release. While we have made significant progress, having decreased our emissions by a ten-fold factor, we do at times still have odor that can be detected. For what it’s worth, initial monitoring in 2022 showed we were at a 200 parts per million level in our exhaust stacks and now we’re at 20 parts per million.

Some might ask, especially since we’re operating in an industrially zoned area, are we meeting governmental emission regulations? You at least have to be doing that, correct? Yes, there are measurable air emission requirements and Neuvokas has met all of these requirements. We work with EGLE to review production outputs, capacities and emission potential to ensure all measurable requirements are being met. However, there are also immeasurable requirements and the current situation has resulted from Rule 336.1901(b) stating “a person shall not cause… unreasonable interference with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property.” Unfortunately, there are no subjective/quantitative emission standards, such as a part per million metric, when it comes to reasonable air quality effects on “life and property.” Our challenge has been trying to develop processes and treatments that reduce the odor to within reasonable levels while still remaining in business.

Some may also ask if we’re doing so well, why can’t we simply spend more money to eliminate this issue? We operate largely within cash flow on a shoestring budget. In fact, we have yet to turn a year-to-year profit, instead preferring to focus revenue on improved production capacity, odor reduction efforts, product development and increased team member wages.

We want our Copper Country neighbors to know that we will continue making all efforts to minimize impact on our community. We understand some are frustrated and may think we’re simply not working fast enough. However, we ask for your continued patience as we pursue potential steps and technologies in resolving this issue.

For those interested in seeing our operation in person, and are willing to sign non-disclosure agreements, we will be scheduling an open house in conjunction with EGLE’s formal release of the finalized consent order. The open house will consist of a factory tour (no pictures or videos though), an event timeline and remediation effort presentation and on-site interviews for those interested in possible employment. All will be followed by a burger and brat lunch. Also, for those who simply have questions, I can be reached during standard business hours at 906.934.2661 or matt@gatorbar.com.