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Holiday to Add 20th E85 Fueling Site
-by Jonathan Eisenthal, special correspondent

By itself, Holiday, Inc. operates approximately one seventh of the nation's 140 E85 fueling sites, a statistic that may reflect a fuel still in its early stage of development, but even more forcefully shows a company that believes in the future of that fuel.

"E85 has been gaining momentum," said Ed Hoffman, director of petroleum marketing for Holiday. "Sales have been growing, compared to the same month last year. We've seen some nice increases...30, 40 and 50 percent growth in those comparisons."

A good deal of that increasing energy and momentum can be attributed to the efforts of the Minnesota E85 Team, a public-private partnership with a host of dynamic organizations providing support, including the Minnesota Corn growers Association, the Minnesota Coalition for Ethanol (representing many of Minnesota's ethanol plants), the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, Ford Motor Vehicle Company and the American Lung Association of Minnesota. State and federal government have also provided support for the promotion of E85, including the Office for Environmental Assistance, the Minnesota Department of Energy-Commerce Division, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Energy.

Plans for a dispenser and tank for the Holiday Station Store in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, due to begin pumping in May, bring Holiday's tally to 20 locations that offer E85, the 85 percent ethanol fuel which dramatically lowers carbon dioxide and other harmful vehicle emissions into the air. Holiday's 19th E85 site, a built-from-the-ground-up new filling station on Industrial Boulevard in Minneapolis, has already begun dispensing the cleaner-burning, renewable fuel.

Minnesota leads the nation in E85 fueling sites, with a tally of 75 E85 stations once the Grand Rapids site begins dispensing the fuel. These fueling sites are owned and operated by a variety of companies, including several pumps operated directly by some of the state's farmer-owned ethanol production companies. The state also boasts a number of private dispensaries for motor vehicle fleets, such as at St. Cloud State University.

"Offering E85 is a good thing for Holiday to do as a Minnesota-based company," said Hoffman. "We launched Blue Planet, a low-sulfur gasoline, in September 1999 and then began selling E85 at the end of 2000, Holiday is a family owned company that has a strong focus on the outdoors - Holiday owns Gander Mountain -- so it's a good fit for us to provide fuels that are better for the environment."

Holiday's first E85 store opened in late 2000 in Minneapolis, and within the first year Holiday added 12 E85 locations. Since then it has steadily added locations to show its commitment to renewable, cleaner-burning fuels. The Grand Rapids location will be the third site in northern Minnesota, joining a station in Duluth that opened last year and a station in International Falls, which opened in January 2003.

Look for E85 also in Windom, Minnesota! The Country Pride Services on 215 1st Avenue in Windom, MN will soon be selling the clean alternative, E85.

The Minnesota E85 Team is partnering with Country Pride Services, Southwest Minnesota Agrifuels Cooperative and Ethanol 2000 on bringing E85 refueling to Windom. This project is made possible, in part, by a grant from the US Department of Energy Clean Cities program. Ethanol 2000 will supply fuel to the station and all indications are E85 pricing will be very competitive with 87-octane gasoline.

On an unfortunate note, the E85 station in Owatonna, Minnesota will soon close its E85 pump. Reports of the Kwik Trip’s E85 sales have been low since opening and city ordinances have prevented the use of additional price signage to advertise E85 to travelers. In addition, fuel pricing issues have prevented the development of a local customer base. While statewide E85 sales grow steadily each year, sales at Owatonna have dwindled.

Other E85 stations opening over the next couple of months include sites in Minneapolis and Hinckley. For a complete listing of E85 stations in Minnesota and all E85 locations, visit www.E85fuel.com.