State Rep. Keith McCall, D-Carbon, announced that a new business located in Lower Towamensing Township, Keystone Pellet, Inc., will receive a $220,000 state grant and a $770,000 low-interest state loan to help construct a wood pellet manufacturing facility and create 22 jobs in the Palmerton area.

"The government doesn't create jobs, but this funding is a perfect example of how state and local government can work with entrepreneurs and give them the tools they need to create jobs and build a healthier Carbon County," McCall said. "This new company is another example of our commitment to cleaner, greener energy.""Because this new facility will reclaim a blighted former industrial site Keystone Pellet will also protect our green spaces and revitalize a brownfield while helping to lead the way in energy innovation."The company expects to manufacture 35,000 tons of hardwood pellets used in home heating stoves and furnaces each yearThe pellets will replace more than four million gallons of heating oil annually and prevent the emission of more than 33 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.The funding for the grant and loan came from the Alternative and Clean Energy Funding program from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development's Commonwealth Financing Authority.The program is expected to invest $335 million in infrastructure, economic development and site development for clean energy generation projects