Burlington, Colo.-based Stratton Equity Co-op recently installed the first E85 blender pump in Colorado.

Gilbarco Veeder-Root distributor Littlejohn’s Equipment Company, Colorado Corn and Colorado Oil & Public Safety joined Stratton Equity Co-op in hosting a grand opening celebration to announce the new addition. 

“We are excited today to be bringing Ethanol into a place in our market that can reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” said Dan Slinger, general manager for the Stratton Equity Co-op, a farmer-owned business. “We are coming full circle with the advent of Ethanol. We grow it, we use it in our vehicles, and we keep the money in our community where it belongs.”

The Stratton Equity Co-op purchased the Gilbarco Encore S blender as part of the Blender Pump Pilot Program to dispense E85, E40, E20 and E10. Grant money through Advancing Colorado’s Renewable Energy (ACRE) awarded to Colorado Corn through the Colorado Department of Agriculture provided funding.

Currently there are more than 100 E85 (non-blending) pumps in Colorado.

Speakers at the grand opening included Dan Slinger from the Stratton Equity Co-op, Mahesh Albuquerque from Colorado Oil & Public Safety, Commissioner John Stulp from the Department of Agriculture, Mayor of Burlington Kerry Korsvold and County Commissioner Dave Gwyn.

“Many c-stores in Colorado have E85, but this is the very first to offer E20, E40 and E85. The fact that this Ethanol Blender is right in the middle of some of the best corn producing farm lands in the USA will be the reason for its success,” said Dan Koster, sales manager for Littlejohn’s Equipment. “We are currently in discussions with several other communities in Colorado to duplicate what we have done in Burlington.”

Gilbarco Veeder-Root will be exhibiting an Encore S dispenser at the NACStech Show, Booth 821, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, May 5 – 7.