If you think the wind industry is sitting still, you have another thing
coming.  There are companies investing, building and offering jobs along
with T. Boone.  So here they are:

Little Rock, Arkansas

Polymarin Composites and Wind Water Technologies (WWT) announced October 8
that it will invest $20 million to transform the former Levi Building into a
combined wind turbine blade and nacelle manufacturing facility, creating 830
new jobs with an average wage of $15/hour.  General Wesley Clark is a principal
of WWT’s parent company, EWT.

Muncie, Indiana

Brevini USA, the U.S. subsidiary of an Italian wind turbine manufacturer
announced this week plans for a new facility to make gearboxes.  Brevini will
invest more than $60 million to retrofit an existing 60,000-square-foot building
and add 150,000 square-feet of manufacturing space at the site in 2010.   The
facility will create about 450 permanent local jobs with annual pay averaging
more than $46,000.

Faribault, Minnesota

Moventas, a Finland-based gearbox manufacturer, will build a 75,000-square-
foot North American assembly and distribution facility using the Faribault-based
Met-Con construction company. The plant, announced by Moventas in September, is
set to open in October 2009 with 90 workers. Employment is expected to swell to
335 by adding 30 employees each year through 2023.

Newton, Iowa

TPI Composites opened its 316,000-square-foot wind turbine blade manufacturing
facility in September. The newly-built plant replaces a former Maytag facility
that was closed in 2006, causing huge job losses in Newton.  At full capacity,
TPI Iowa plans to employ 500 Iowans.

Granted that some of these companies may have gotten some incentives from the
bailout but hey, they are here going green.

Hopefully, folks in these towns are able to be part of the wind industry growth.

Source:  treehugger