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Grain Belt Express officials discusses project, community grants
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COURTESY PHOTO Ron Gillette with Invenergy Transmission, the company behind the Grain Belt Express, presents a check for $500 to the Barton County Historical Society recently. Shown with Gillette are Great Bend Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors Arlen Schroeder, Cody Harris, Ron Gillette, Richard C. Lartz ll, Joe Boley, Leslie Helsel, Kris Sundahl, Amanda Staab and Charell Ownings, and BCHS Director Richard Lartz.
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COURTESY PHOTO Ron Gillette with Invenergy Transmission, the company behind the Grain Belt Express, presents a check for $500 to the Great Bend Public Library. With Gillette are library staff members Jazmin Garcia, Nicole Garrett, Lisa Zier, Amy Mayhill, Loretta Schroeder and Jessica Ney.

Recently, Great Bend Chamber of Commerce’s Edith Solorzano caught up with Ron Gillette, community relations field representative with Invenergy Transmission, the company behind the Grain Belt Express electrical power transmission line. Gillette explained his increased number trips to Kansas where he can be found handing out money to worthy projects and programs.

“We want to be good corporate citizens,” he said. To this end, Invenergy Transmission is awarding $500 grants to nonprofit agencies in the counties where it does business (there are 14 counties in Kansas stretching from Ford to Doniphan, including Barton).

Any nonprofit that provides a service to its community is welcome to apply, he said. Applications are available on thegrainbeltexpress.com website, along with information and a map showing the counties included.

The Grain Belt project stretches from the Dodge City area, through Kansas and Missouri and into Illinois.

Below are the responses to his interview with Solorzano:


Q. For the folks that don’t know, can you explain what Grain Belt Express is and what you do?

A. Grain Belt Express is a transmission line, it transmits renewable energy that’s generated in the Midwest, including central Kansas. Wind energy and is transmitted throughout the Midwest grid and distributed throughout the Midwest grid. It’s clean, renewable, reliable energy produced and delivered in the Midwest.

In Kansas, there are three years of projects in construction as part of Phase 1. This will generate 19,000 jobs in the state of Kansas; jobs in the facility to build the turbines and to deliver the power. $6.6 billion dollars is what we are going to spend during Phase 1 in Kansas alone. It’s a huge investment.


Q. Tell me about yourself?

A. I work for Invenergy Transfer. My role is community relations for the Grain Belt Express with a focus on outreach and building relationships in the communities we serve. I offer support for the projects and interface with the local communities keeping them informed of project updates specific to Grain Belt Express.


Q. What can you tell me about the Community Grant? Is this something that Grain Belt has always done?

A. Yes! Our community grant program offers grants in the amount of $500 to worthwhile programs and projects. Grant applications are reviewed and awarded quarterly to any 501(c)(3) organization with a qualifying community-oriented request. We really focus on giving back to the communities we are working in and truly being a part of those communities.


Q. Is there a limit on how many grants you guys give out?

A. No, we don’t have a limit on our grants. Every quarter, we review the applications received and if we deem it appropriate, we issue a grant. There is no number on it.


Q. I’m told you travel a lot in your role. How much traveling would you say you do?

A. Some days I travel 200 or 300 miles! That’s the only way to build a community relationship and get the word out about what we do, how we do it, and information about Invenergy. I want to be in-person visiting the community and community leaders. \

Our project runs across 10 counties in Missouri, 14 counties in Kansas, from Dodge City and up through Barton County, back up through and crossing into Missouri by St. Joseph and then ending on the Illinois / Indiana border.

It’s very fulfilling getting to meet a lot of people and different organizations. It’s awesome and I’ve met just a lot of good people across the Midwest as I travel with grant awards and educating the communities what we’re doing with the green energy, and the importance of reliable, clean energy. 

I don’t think people realize how important it is, to have the power. You can generate the power, but you got to have a way to deliver the power to the communities, to the residents, and so on so forth. 


Q. How can people find you? Social media, website, etc?

A. We have a website you visit at www.grainbeltexpress.com. It shows the different states we are in: Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois. You can click on the appropriate state to learn more. We do have a Facebook page, for people to connect and of course they can contact the local chamber of commerce as they have my name and number, but the website is a really good source of information.