Advertisement
Tower Tech’s opening hinges on orders
By By Jill Meier
Challenger editor
Challenger editor
Comment
Print
EmailJuly 26. 2010 8:15AM
Wind tower production in the 115,000-square-foot Tower Tech Systems building in the Corson Development Park remains on hold, according a company spokesman.
Production won’t begin until the Wisconsin-based company secures enough contracts for towers.
“Upon receipt of sufficient customer orders the plant will become fully operational,” said John Segvich, Broadwind Energy Inc.’s director of investor and marketing communications.
Brandon’s assistant city administrator Dennis Olson said company reps have indicated they will be in production by the end of the year.
“They’re waiting for contracts,” Olson said. “They’re very positive that things are going to turn around.”
Olson said when Broadwind initiated their plans to build a plant here, the company had a two-year contract in place with General Electric. GE later backed out, eliminating the immediate need for production in their South Dakota plant.
The Tower Tech Systems project at the Corson Development Park was put on hold for eight months in 2009 while parent company Broadwind Energy Inc. built a similar plant in Texas and waited for the wind energy industry to improve. Construction resumed Sept. 1, 2009 at the Corson location and wrapped up earlier this year, Segvich said.
“Construction of our wind turbine tower manufacturing facility in Brandon was completed earlier,” Segvich confirmed.
Company officials have said they plan to employ 150 people at the Brandon facility, which would make the company one of the four largest employers in the local area.
The equipment to produce wind towers is in place, but Segvich would not say when staff would be hired. Earlier this year, it was announced that Dave Hahne of North Sioux City was hired to be the plant manager.
Tower Tech specializes in fabricating large, heavy towers that support wind turbine blades. The plant has the capacity to produce 150 of the three-section towers per year.
The Brandon plant is the company’s third manufacturing facility. The others are located in Manitowoc, Wis., and Abilene, Texas.
Henry Carlson Co. was the general contractor for both the Brandon and Abiline projects. The plants are some of the biggest buildings – 1,150 feet by 100 feet – the construction company has built, according to Jerry Fromm, who managed both projects.
They’re also the longest. The plant is nearly four times as long as a football field, with walls 51 feet high. Once in production, assembly of the 200-foot-tall towers will begin at one end of the building and be completed at the other end.
The plant sits on 41 acres in the Corson Development Park on the north side of Interstate 90. Broadwind executives said they chose the site near Brandon to produce towers near major wind and energy projects, which in turn will reduce transportation costs.
Several wind farms are under construction in western Minnesota, western Iowa and in Brookings and Deuel counties in South Dakota. A small wind farm, the first in Minnehaha County, is in the early stages south of Dell Rapids.
Sioux Falls Business Journal reporter Randy Hascall contributed to this report.
Production won’t begin until the Wisconsin-based company secures enough contracts for towers.
“Upon receipt of sufficient customer orders the plant will become fully operational,” said John Segvich, Broadwind Energy Inc.’s director of investor and marketing communications.
Brandon’s assistant city administrator Dennis Olson said company reps have indicated they will be in production by the end of the year.
“They’re waiting for contracts,” Olson said. “They’re very positive that things are going to turn around.”
Olson said when Broadwind initiated their plans to build a plant here, the company had a two-year contract in place with General Electric. GE later backed out, eliminating the immediate need for production in their South Dakota plant.
The Tower Tech Systems project at the Corson Development Park was put on hold for eight months in 2009 while parent company Broadwind Energy Inc. built a similar plant in Texas and waited for the wind energy industry to improve. Construction resumed Sept. 1, 2009 at the Corson location and wrapped up earlier this year, Segvich said.
“Construction of our wind turbine tower manufacturing facility in Brandon was completed earlier,” Segvich confirmed.
Company officials have said they plan to employ 150 people at the Brandon facility, which would make the company one of the four largest employers in the local area.
The equipment to produce wind towers is in place, but Segvich would not say when staff would be hired. Earlier this year, it was announced that Dave Hahne of North Sioux City was hired to be the plant manager.
Tower Tech specializes in fabricating large, heavy towers that support wind turbine blades. The plant has the capacity to produce 150 of the three-section towers per year.
The Brandon plant is the company’s third manufacturing facility. The others are located in Manitowoc, Wis., and Abilene, Texas.
Henry Carlson Co. was the general contractor for both the Brandon and Abiline projects. The plants are some of the biggest buildings – 1,150 feet by 100 feet – the construction company has built, according to Jerry Fromm, who managed both projects.
They’re also the longest. The plant is nearly four times as long as a football field, with walls 51 feet high. Once in production, assembly of the 200-foot-tall towers will begin at one end of the building and be completed at the other end.
The plant sits on 41 acres in the Corson Development Park on the north side of Interstate 90. Broadwind executives said they chose the site near Brandon to produce towers near major wind and energy projects, which in turn will reduce transportation costs.
Several wind farms are under construction in western Minnesota, western Iowa and in Brookings and Deuel counties in South Dakota. A small wind farm, the first in Minnehaha County, is in the early stages south of Dell Rapids.
Sioux Falls Business Journal reporter Randy Hascall contributed to this report.
|
Wind tower production in the 115,000-square-foot Tower Tech Systems building in the Corson Development Park remains on hold, according a company spokesman. Production at Tower Tech Systems won’t begin until the Wisconsin-based company secures enough contracts for towers. Challenger file photo |  |
Recent Stories
