Slide2:
PPG Industries
Shelby, North Carolina
Fiber Glass
As of July 2007, the company employed ~ 700 workers.
In 2008, PPG announced that it would be investing ~ $20 million over three years to expand their Shelby facility.
The expansion would allow the company to add 120 jobs at an average annual wage of $32,183 within three years.
As of April 2009, the company announced that it would be laying off 75 workers and that an additional 15 would be taking early retirement due to the national economic crisis.
In July 2009, the company was awarded $742,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy for research and testing on wind turbine blades.
Slide3:
Gamesa
Ebensburg and Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania
Blades, Nacelles, Towers
Gamesa selected Ebensburg, PA as the site for their first manufacturing plant in the U.S.
Jobs at the Ebensburg Plant pay between $12.73-$18.39 per hour
Gamesa hired their first employee in December of 2005 and produced their first blade in March of 2006
“We are most impressed with Pennsylvania’s recent initiatives in renewable energy, in particular the clean energy portfolio standard signed by Governor Rendell and passed by the Legislature last November. This standard will require a total of 18 percent of Pennsylvania’s electricity to be generated via alternative energy sources by 2020, in the area of 3,600 megawatts, and represents the kind of forward thinking that has inspired Gamesa to come to Pennsylvania.”
Iñaki López Gandásegui, Former Chief Executive Officer of Gamesa. State of Pennsylvania Press Release, January 2005.
Slide4:
Gamesa
Fairless Hills and Ebensburg, Pennsylvania
Towers, Nacelles, Blades
Later in 2005 Gamesa selected Fairless Hills, PA as the site produce blades, nacelles and towers.
Jobs at the Fairless Hills Plant pay between $13.65-$21.00 per hour.
As of January 2009, Gamesa announced that they would be laying off 184 workers at their Fairless Hills facility due to the inability to produce the size of blades that are in demand.
All blade manufacturing will be shifting to the Ebensburg facility.
Slide5:
LAI International
LAI East-Westminster, Maryland
Bearing Cages
Founded in 1979
Employs 4 people who work directly with wind-related components
Manufactured ~ 600 large-diameter wind cages in 2008
Expected to manufacture ~ 800 in 2009
Slide6:
Manufactures components including hubs, bedplates, and gearbox housings for turbines ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 MW
Employed 175 workers for much of 2008; laid off 40 due to the economy
Of the 135 remaining workers, approximately half work on wind-related components
In 2008, wind manufacturing made up 32% of total production; expected to decrease in 2009; no estimates due to volatile economy
Began manufacturing wind-related components in 2003
Hodge Foundry
Greenville, PA
Component Castings