Flooring products, Siding construction and Bio-Pellets or Fuel source. Key Partners identified: University of IL- Extension, Delta Regional Authority, USDA/US Forestry Service and DigiFarm Corporation for Ag Marketing of Soy Products. The FuelOx company has worked to achieve a Bio-preferred status with the FDA, changed its labeling to enhance the marketing position of being a Soy-Based product with no petroleum products in its formula. Arise Veteran Foundation (ARISE) worked with farmers in Southern IL, Northeast Oklahoma and industrious greenhouse operator that created pellets with their Soybean and Hemp stalks. This is what lead us to explore the Hemp/Soy product market with our American Indian HVAC manufacture 7-Gen, UNICO and the Standing Rock Sioux Nation. ARISE will explore the use of soybeans as an adhesive in the production of composite board made with hemp fiber at its vocation location in Southern Illinois. Through the USB Grant process, Arise met Hempwood, based out of Murray KY. Hempwood uses natural fibers in an environmentally friendly, low cost, low density and easy to process. Their process has the quality of fiber-matrix interface to create a Hempwood flooring product, already utilizing soybeans as an adhesive. Greg Wilson at Hempwood uses Soybean binders to create an alternative heating source for his plant operation. This is a great rural and low-income housing option for heating. The project will test the resiliency of soybeans as an adhesive in commercial and residential housing markets. A new business partnership has evolved between Arise VF, Phoenix Harvest (Service Disabled Veteran Eco-Remediation Company) and the Hickories' Apache Nation in New Mexico. The Hemp/Soy composite board product is will be undergoing laboratory tests in 2024. The benefit of the PH Composite is the utilization of R-Soy ADM product and powdered Hemp. The University of North Texas Engineering Department has partnered with Arise VF and Phoenix Harvest to create a modular tiny home to test the product.

During the discovery process of creating re-purposed wood fiber from Industrial Hemp and utilizing the remaining soybean based adhesives, the University of North Texas Engineering, Construction and Chemistry programs has won international design competition for the utilization of modular construction with hemp, soy and repurposed construction materials. While hemp-based wood alternatives could certainly prove disruptive to the North American wood products market which is forecasted to reach $230 billion by 2025, the primary obstacle for wood-alternative products has always been achieving a competitive price point. (https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/lumber-volatility-affords-opportunity-for-hemp-based-alternatives/#:~:text=While%20hemp%2Dbased%20wood%20alternatives,achieving%20a%20competitive%20price%20point.) The goal is to utilize the excess 30 Metric tons of R-Soy produced through America's Soybean producers. Arise VF will start with the Smart Pole fence posts being developed with DigiFarms, then utilize those Hemp/Soy Lumber in Modular housing for Refugee Camps and Veteran Villages alike.