FERNDALE, Wash. — There is new hope for a shuttered factory in Whatcom County.
The Intalco-Alcoa aluminum smelter operated in Ferndale for 54 years before closing in 2020.
It was part of the fabric of the community.
"Generations of folks that have worked there," said state Rep. Alicia Rule. "My uncle retired from there. A lot of cousins worked there."
Rule knows what that factory meant to that town. When it closed leaving 700 people out of work in the midst of a raging pandemic, things looked bleak.
"It's not just Ferndale. It's really our entire community," says Rule.
Now, just 18 months later, all of those jobs may be coming back.
New York investment firm Blue Wolf Capital is offering to buy the smelter and turn it into what's being called the "greenest smelter in the world."
An enticement of $10 million from the state of Washington is being proposed to help make the deal happen.
The money would be earmarked to make the plant more environmentally clean and energy-efficient.
That's critical because Blue Wolf is currently in negotiations with the Bonneville Power Administration for electricity to run the plant.
"Electricity is a huge input for them and if they can't get some kind of price break on that it doesn't make it cost-efficient for them to fire that smelter back up," said Ferndale Mayor Greg Hanson.
If Blue Wolf and Bonneville can reach an agreement, it would be the biggest economic development for Ferndale since the opening of the BP oil refinery more than half a century ago.
The "green machine," as it has been called, would bring the smelter into the 21st century and provide jobs for generations to come.
Every job at the smelter supports 2.5 other area residents, supporters say.
"It's not just the direct jobs that this produces, which are important, but in our community this is a dividend that is multiplied into many different sectors," said Rule.
Ferndale has suffered with the ups and downs of the turbulent aluminum industry for decades.
The plant's future always seemed in doubt.
News of the potential $10 million enticement and ongoing negotiations have Hanson, a self-described "eternal optimist," cautiously optimistic.
"I'm not gonna be toasting with champagne until I see people being hired back," he said. "That money, though, shows to both Bonneville and Blue Wolf that Washington is very serious and we want this to happen."
That critical $10 million still has to make it through the state's budget process and be signed by the governor.
Rep. Rule, however, believes it will happen for her beloved community, "because there's so much to lose if we can't pull this through, and we have a lot of hope around this."