A New York-based insulation company has been selected to receive a $10 million federal grant to open a 60,000-square-foot production facility in Chehalis that will support 40 full-time jobs, according to U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that CleanFiber will receive two $10 million federal grants to build facilities in Chehalis and Ennis, Texas, to create 80 full-time jobs.

The location of the project and a timeline for completion remain unclear.

The Chehalis plant is one of 14 projects announced by DOE to increase clean energy manufacturing in 15 coal communities across the United States.

The investments total $428 million across 12 states. According to Axios, the selected companies will enter additional negotiations before the funds are provided.

“This planned new manufacturing plant is a triple win for the region: It will deliver good new manufacturing jobs, produce energy-saving advanced insulation, and reduce waste by upcycling local materials,” Cantwell said. “Supporting well-paying jobs in transitioning communities is a key requirement we included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and this announcement shows the federal government is betting on Chehalis to be an engine of revitalization in Southwest Washington.”

According to the company’s frequently asked questions page, CleanFiber is “next-generation cellulose insulation for use in attics, walls and floors of residential or commercial new construction, and retrofit applications.”

In a description of the company’s operations in June 2021, CEO Jonathan Strimling said the CleanFiber opened its pilot plant in 2018 and began shipments from its plant in Buffalo, New York, in 2020.

Once operational, both new facilities will produce enough insulation to weatherize more than 10,000 homes a year.

In an email, Port of Chehalis CEO Lindsey Senter said the port has not heard whether CleanFiber has secured a site. On Tuesday, Richard DeBolt, executive director of the Economic Alliance of Lewis County, said he would have additional details on the project in the coming days.

According to a description of the project provided by DOE, the facility will be “housed within an existing building.”

“By utilizing an existing facility, CleanFiber can avoid many of the permits, environmental impacts and delays associated with new construction,” a description provided by the DOE states.

According to the DOE, the new facility will mirror the company’s existing facility in Buffalo and will “replicate this facility in close proximity to cardboard recycling facilities.”

According to Cantwell, construction of the facility will require approximately 33 full-time local contractors who will be paid at or above the prevailing wage. Once operational, the Chehalis plant will support 40 full-time employees who will be paid competitive wages and full benefits packages, Cantwell stated.

CleanFiber will conduct outreach to disadvantaged and displaced coal workers and has pledged to remain neutral during any union-organizing campaigns. The project description notes that the site is “adjacent to a coal community” and multiple “disadvantaged communities” as defined by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool.

“These are communities that have been hit by coal mine or power plant closures, and this funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is focused on these communities that really have been the backbone of our economy for so long,” Deputy Director of Manufacturing and Workforce Development Kelly Visconti said during a briefing Wednesday.

According to DOE, each project includes a community benefits plan to maximize economic, health and environmental benefits. The community benefit plan for the Chehalis project includes a target of ensuring that “40% of the benefits flow to those communities via employment opportunities.”

“The transition to America’s clean energy future is being shaped by communities filled with the valuable talent and experience that comes from powering our country for decades,” Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in a statement. “By leveraging the know-how and skillset of the former coal workforce, we are strengthening our national security while helping advance forward-facing technologies and revitalize communities across the nation.”

The Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, which selected CleanFiber, was created and funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that Cantwell helped draft in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

“Under President Biden and Vice President Harris’s leadership, we are leading an unprecedented expansion of American energy production, a manufacturing renaissance, and the essential work of rebuilding our middle class. This is especially true in former coal communities, which are mounting a clean energy comeback by harnessing the urgent climate challenge in front of us and the clean energy solutions we invented here in America,” White House National Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi said in a statement.