To mark the 10th anniversary of the creation of the Certified Biobased Product Label, an economic impact analysis was released by the USDA on July 29th. 

The USDA BioPreferred Program was established in 2011 to stimulate economic development.  This program with the Certified Biobased Product Label has given rise to 16,000 registered products of which ethanol from corn is the major economic driver.  The report notes that biobased products support 4.6 million jobs through direct and indirect contribution and collectively biobased products add $470 billion to the U.S. economy annually.  The biobased products industry has a multiplier of 2.8 jobs for every biobased job.

It would be presumptuous for the USDA to claim that their certification program is responsible for the sale of ethanol since production and the volume incorporated in gasoline is mandated by legislation.