host posted on February 02, 2010 14:04
Total of $15.5M in funding distributed to 5 Mich. firms
Melissa Domsic
Lansing State Journal
EATON RAPIDS - A local wind energy manufacturer has snagged $7 million in federal stimulus funding to help jump-start its business.
Astraeus Wind Energy Inc. won the largest grant among five Michigan companies that received a total of $15.5 million Wednesday.
The grants are expected to allow the five companies to retain or create 713 jobs over the next two years, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said in a statement. Companies with 500 or fewer full-time employees were eligible to apply for the grants to get into the business of manufacturing renewable energy technologies such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. Nearly 80 companies requested almost $198 million.
Astraeus was formed this summer as an affiliate of Eaton Rapids-based Dowding Machining LLC. Dowding is contracting with Sterling Heights-based MAG Industrial Automation Systems LLC to build machines for the wind turbine component production. Dowding Machining is an affiliate of Dowding Industries Inc., which has switched its focus from auto parts to wind turbines. The two Dowding companies and Astraeus are based in Eaton Rapids.
The $7 million grant will allow Astraeus to build a machine that produces wind turbine hubs. The new machine will reduce production time from 24 hours to 4 1/2 hours, said Jeff Metts, president of Astraeus and Dowding Industries. It'll likely take eight to 12 months to complete the machine, Metts said.
25 or more workers
Astraeus will st art working on wind turbine hubs before moving on to carbon fiber blades and eventually expanding into materials technology for the automotive and defense industries and municipal infrastructure, Metts said. "We've got some real game-changing stuff here," he said, adding that the company wouldn't have been able to build the new machine without the grant.
About 10 Dowding employees will be working for Astraeus. Metts predicted that will quickly grow to 25 and more. Within two years, Astraeus will have 90 to 100 employees. Most will be new hires, he said. Wages start at about $10 an hour for basic labor positions and go up to roughly $28 per hour for higher-level machinists and engineers, Metts said.
'On the cusp' The number of automotive manufacturing jobs in Michigan tumbled 30 percent to 158,900, with 67,400 jobs lost from 2005 to 2008, according to the Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth. But from 2005 to 2008, a sampling of firms in the renewable energy production sector added 1,900 jobs in Michigan, a growth rate of more than 30 percent, according to the 2009 Michigan Green Jobs Report.
Chris Dowding, CEO of Dowding Industries, said she's grateful the company has a chance to help keep jobs in Michigan and boost the state's clean energy industry.
"To be on the cusp of that, that's pretty exciting," she said.
Additional Facts
Grant recipients
Five Michigan manufacturers received $15.5 million in federal stimulus grants to diversify into renewable energy.
• Astraeus Wind Energy Inc. in Eaton Rapids: $7 million to manufacture large scale, advanced-composite wind turbine blades and hub-related components
• Energetx Composites LLC in Holland: $3.5 million to manufacture large scale, advanced-composite wind turbine blades w Loc Performance Products Inc. in Plymouth: $1.5 million to manufacture planetary gears and gearboxes for utility-scale wind turbines
• LUMA Resources LLC in Rochester Hills: $500,000 to manufacture products for the residential photovoltaic solar market
• Merrill Technologies Group in Saginaw: $3 million to manufacture large scale, advanced-composite wind turbine blades and system components Source: State of Michigan
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20091210/NEWS03/912100323/1004/NEWS03