From: Whipple, Deb (GOV)
Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 4:34 PM
Subject: What the Governor is talking about today
What the Governor’s Talking about Today
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
 
Governor Celebrates Groundbreaking for Ventower Wind Tower Manufacturing Plant in Monroe
 
The governor today joined company leaders and federal, state and local officials to celebrate the groundbreaking for Ventower Industries’ new 115,000-square-foot wind tower manufacturing plant in Monroe.  The company is investing $22 million in the project, which is expected to create up to 150 new jobs.
 
Ventower Industries is a full-service fabricator and supplier of industrial-scale wind turbine towers.  Focused on serving original equipment manufacturers, the company will provide high-quality wind towers to its customers throughout the Great Lakes region by using readily accessible water, rail and truck modes of transportation.
 
Ventower expects construction to be complete and manufacturing to begin in early 2011.  The company anticipates building up to 250 towers a year at the site.
 
Federal, state and local incentives helped Michigan win the project over a competing site in Ohio.  Ventower is using a federal advanced energy manufacturing tax credit worth $2.5 million funded through the Recovery Act to help purchase equipment needed for tower manufacturing.  The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) supported a state employment credit worth up to $3.7 million over 10 years and a brownfield redevelopment credit worth up to $5.8 million.  The city of Monroe is assisting with a local abatement and infrastructure upgrades to the Port of Monroe.
 
Key messages:
 
•  Clean energy is one of the economic sectors we’ve targeted in our ongoing efforts to diversify Michigan’s economy.  Ventower’s state-of-the-art facility will help us toward our goal of making Michigan a center for green manufacturing.
 
•  A strong partnership between the state and the city of Monroe, together with federal assistance, helped make the strong business case that convinced Ventower to locate in Michigan.
 
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