Dumas Texas Economic Development Corporation
Dumas, TX
http://www.dumasedc.org/
Dumas is ready and primed for new wind business activity. Positioned in the middle of one of the strongest wind corridor’s in the United States and located in the number one state for wind development, the opportunities could not be better. Dumas is the fastest growing community north of Amarillo. It serves as a trade area for over 70,000 people. They are uniquely situated to host the development, operations & maintenance, equipment supply or any other wind related business.
Landowners are anxiously waiting to make deals with developers and the community is supportive. Moore County Campus of Amarillo Community College has created a Wind Technician Program to produce a highly-skilled wind industry workforce.
Dumas is surrounded by six sites for wind energy. Wind turbines can be seen from; U.S. Highway 152 from Dumas to Borger; U.S. Highway 287 from Dumas; and FM 281 from Etter to Sunray. The sixth site is currently being erected adjacent to the Valero-McKee Refinery. The Panhandle of Texas is one of the prime spots in Texas for Wind Energy. That is why Dumas is working with additional developers in the area on several proposed wind farms.
Each of the first five sites has 10 megawatts of power with eight to sixteen turbines at each site. The most recent development is Valero's inaugural wind energy site with 50 megawatts and plans to double in the near future. Dumas is also right in the middle of three major electrical transmission projects that will undoubtedly provide enormous opportunities in the immediate future; the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) project is located north and east of Dumas, the High Plains Express (HPX) project is just to the west of Dumas and the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) project is located just south of Dumas. These are major opportunities for any business desiring to be located in the middle of the action.
Iowa City Area Development Group Iowa City, Iowa
http://www.iowacitywind.com/ In the past year, the Iowa City Area Development (ICAD) Group helped the city of Iowa City, Iowa, become the first and only city in the nation to purchase land and develop an industrial park specific to the wind energy industry. Created with the goal of attracting development through conscientious design, every aspect of Iowa City's Wind Energy Supply Chain Campus meets the unique needs of wind energy manufacturers. All turning radii and road widths have been designed to accommodate trailers commonly used for moving nacelles and blades. There is significant flexibility in platting and layout of rail infrastructure to customize site plans. For example, a foundry could be placed adjacent to any nacelle OEM such that shipping costs on large castings would be eliminated. ICAD Group represents the Wind Energy Supply Chain Campus and other property within close proximity to Clipper Windpower and Acciona North America. The area allows companies the potential to expand upon an existing synergistic cluster in the heart of the wind belt, provides easy shipping routes to Midwestern wind farms, and connects employers to the largest population region in the state of Iowa. More than 100,000 people in the advanced manufacturing laborshed for this region are willing to switch jobs or enter the workforce for the right opportunity. ICAD Group also fosters innovation within our seven county region and connects our strong knowledge base and R&D capacity with companies researching our area. We provide direct links to the wind energy research being developed at the University of Iowa's College of Engineering, led by AWEA board member Patrick Butler. Traditional industrial tech programs are also offered by Kirkwood Community College. Gilliam/Morrow County Economic Development Arlington, OR http://www.gilliamcoedo.wordpress.com/ In October 2010, one of the biggest proposed sustainable business projects in the world cleared another hurdle, when it secured a $1.3 billion stimulus loan from the U.S. Department of Energy. Once complete, the Shepherds Flat Wind Farm, to be located in eastern Oregon, will consist of 338 wind turbines, capable of generating 845 megawatts of electricity—more than the generating capacity of the state’s existing Boardman Coal Plant. A power purchase agreement for electricity from this mammoth sustainable business project has already been granted to the utility Southern California Edison. The Shepherds Flat Farm has already had to go through some difficult regulatory obstacles. Earlier this year the pentagon put an effective hold on the project due to concerns that the wind turbines would interfere with the workings of radar systems in the area. After a public outcry and pressure from Oregon’s congressional delegation, the Defense Department agreed to implement measures that will protect radar systems while allowing the wind project to move forward. In a statement about the Shepherd’s Flat loan, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu pointed to his department’s support for the wind far as an example of the Obama administration’s commitment to increase renewable energy generation while creating jobs in sustainable business. Once it is up and running, the Shepherd’s Flat Wind Farm is expected to employ thirty-five people in Oregon’s sparsely populated rural counties. During the construction phase it will employ around 400 people. Because the turbines are located on private land, $2.7 million per year will also be parceled out to more than twenty rural landowners as compensation for placing turbines on their property. Finally, the Shepherds Flat Farm will pay out $130 million in local taxes that support city and county government services. The giant wind farm also comes with huge environmental benefits. It is expected to avoid more than a million tons of carbon emissions each year—the equivalent of taking 212,141 cars off of the road. Yet it’s largely because of the economic benefits of sustainable business that Shepherds Flat has become so popular with Oregonians of both political parties. When the pentagon was threatening to derail the wind farm, both Oregon’s democratic US senators, as well as Republican Representative Greg Walden, interjected within the federal government on the project’s behalf. New North, Inc. De Pere, Wisconsin http://www.wiwindworks.com/ For the past several years, the New North, Inc. - which represents the 18-county region of Northeast Wisconsin known as the New North - has made the wind energy industry a targeted industry cluster based on the region's traditional success and skilled workforce in advanced manufacturing. To that end, the New North established Wisconsin Wind Works -- a consortium of manufacturers representing the supply chain side of the wind energy industry throughout the state. The New North has worked to connect wind power companies with companies from Wisconsin that have a great deal of expertise in the industry, including engineering firms, general contractors, and manufacturers of die castings, composites, and gears and bearing, among many other components and areas of expertise. The New North has published the Wisconsin Wind Works Supply Chain directory - a one-stop shop for information on wind energy suppliers in the state -and led a delegation of companies from Wisconsin to the American Wind Energy Association WINDPOWER Annual Conference for the past several years to promote the state's industry assets. In all, the New North alone is home to over 200 vendor-suppliers with the production capacity to produce components involved in wind energy generation, and the region's technical colleges are committed to providing job-training skills necessary for work on wind energy systems and components. With the vast resources of the New North as a region - including a well-trained workforce, excellent infrastructure, and a location ideal for the transportation and distribution of components - and the New North, Inc.'s commitment to growing the wind energy sector, the future looks bright for the industry in Northeast Wisconsin. Sweetwater Enterprise for Economic Development Inc. (SEED) Sweetwater, TX www.sweetwatertexas.net Sweetwater sits at the crossroads of Interstate Highway-20 and Highways 70 and 84. Highway 84 is a major divided, four lane road connecting Sweetwater to Lubbock, approximately 120 miles northwest. With its proximity and effortless access to metropolitan communities, abundant workforce and supreme facilities, Sweetwater is a community prepared to become the heart of alternative energy production and manufacturing. Sweetwater Enterprise for Economic Development (S.E.E.D.) provides expanding businesses with ample information necessary for choosing a new site location. S.E.E.D. offers new and existing businesses a variety of financial and non-financial incentives from the federal, state and local levels. In order to provide a highly-skilled workforce for its burgeoning wind industry, Texas State Technical College in Sweetwater, offers degree programs in Wind Energy Technology. Railroad transportation is available through two rail lines, Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Lonestar Transportation is a logistics company which has operations in the area and has worked with some of the largest wind energy, petrochemical, aerospace and construction companies in the world. In August 2010, KR Wind located their central U.S. location for tooling and distribution, in Sweetwater. They ship/receive containers with supplies for their different projects to/from all over the United States from their location in Sweetwater. EMA Electromechanics, who has recently located their new U.S. based manufacturing facility in Sweetwater, has shipped their first order of breakers to Mojave, California. They were shipped using a locally based company, Lone Star Transportation. An impressive number of wind related companies are already located in the Sweetwater/Nolan County region. Some of these companies with operations there include: Upwind Solutions, Wind Energy Services, Wind Energy Turbine Services, Northwind Solutions, White Construction, KR Wind, Crane Services, Inc., Altezza, Hytorc, Fastenal, Advanced Turbine, GE Wind Center, E.ON, Invenergy, Siemens, Shermco, Turn Energy Maintenance LLC, Bluarc (formerly Babcock & Brown), Wave Wind, EMA – Electromechanics LLC, Evans Enterprises, Titan Technology and Wind Farm Capital. Other companies are located in the nearby cities of Colorado City, Abilene, Snyder, Brownwood, and Coleman such as, Concrete Mobility, Aztec Bolting, Windcrete, Tower Tech, EMS, Zoltec, Invenergy, Mitsubishi, Barr Fabrication and Windclean. |
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