Renewable names in demand by corporations

The word "renewable" has become a hot commodity in Iowa corporate names, bringing consequences for some organizations active in Iowa's renewable energy boom.

The Iowa Renewable Energy Association (I-RENEW), a 14-year-old non-profit, was flooded with phone calls from investors and financiers when Iowa Renewable Energy LLC announced plans last April for a biodiesel plant in Washington County.

Members of the national news media called the non-profit.

"First we kind of basked in it all, and we would have long conversations," I-RENEW Executive Director Michelle Kenyon Brown said. "Then we would realize later that they had mistaken us for someone else, and we would call them back and tell them we are not a for-profit biodiesel company."

The Iowa City non-profit, known for its annual I-RENEW Expo and educational workshops, advances understanding of diverse home- and community-based renewable energy sources.

Brown, lacking a direct contact at the sound-alike biodiesel firm, would refer callers to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, a Johnston-based non-profit with a confusingly similar name. It represents the state's emerging biodiesel and ethanol industry.

I-RENEW board member and co-founder Tom Snyder searched the state's corporation database.

He found three similarly named corporations registered in the past four years.

Deputy Secretary of State Charles Krogmeier explained that under Iowa law, the distinction between names can be as little as one word's difference. The different word can be as subtle as the form of incorporation, such as "Inc." instead of "LLC."

Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, said he's sorry if the name similarity causes confusion. His group's name arose from its affiliation with the nationwide Renewable Fuels Association.

"I look at it as a positive," Shaw said. "It just means there's a lot of interest in renewable fuels and renewable energy."

Warren Bush of Iowa Renewable Energy LLC, the biodiesel venture, is a Wall Lake attorney.

He said investors picked the name out of a list he had reserved with the Iowa Secretary of State because they liked the sound of it.

"We're not interested in changing it," he said.

Looking for a name people won't want to copy?

Try including the word "manure."

After landing two biodiesel plants, the Washington County Economic Development Group is trying to promote a plant that would recover energy from manure.

"Manure" doesn't seem to make investors want to open their checkbooks the way "renewable energy" does, agreed the group's executive director, Ed Raber.

"It is a problem, I'm finding."

• Business Insurance