IBJNews

  • Home

Solar firm investing $500M in unused Getrag plant; 850 jobs planned

 IBJ Staff
July 3, 2010
Keywords
Economic Development, Economic Development Incentives, Energy & Environment, Factories, Government & Economic Development, Indiana Economic Development Corp., Job Creation, Manufacturers, Manufacturing & Technology, Other Counties, Regional News, Renewable Energy, Solar power
Back to TopCommentsE-mailPrint

A Colorado-based solar panel manufacturer will get federal help to take over the empty Getrag plant on U.S. 31 near Kokomo, creating as many as 850 jobs in the next three years and establishing what it says will be the largest such facility in the United States.

Abound Solar Inc. will get help from a $400 million federal loan guarantee to open the Tipton County facility and expand an existing plant in Colorado. President Barack Obama announced nearly $2 billion in federal economic stimulus funding for two solar energy firms on Saturday, touting thousands of new jobs and increased use of renewable energyy. Abound Solar and Abengoa Solar, which is building a massive plant in Arizona, are the beneficiaries.

Abound Solar also is eligible for a total of more than $12 million in performance-based tax credits and training grants from the Indiana Economic Development Corp. Tipton County leaders in May approved another $13 million in incentives to help lure the then-identified company.

The plant, where transmissions were to be built, has stood empty since 2008. Getrag Manufacturing LLC filed for bankruptcy and halted work on the plant after the company's partnership with Chrysler LLC collapsed. The facility has never been used.

A federal bankruptcy court in Detroit turned the facility over to a trustee group consisting of contractors still owed money on the project.

Abound Solar plans to invest more than $500 million in machinery, equipment and building improvements in Tipton County, the IEDC said Saturday. After renovations begin, the company plans to hire engineers, technicians and production associates.

IEDC said it worked with county leaders, federal lawmakers, state officials and the U.S. Department of Energy to help the company seal the deal.

"State and local representatives from Indiana were particularly instrumental in our efforts to finalize plans for this state-of-the-art facility and create high-paying jobs for Hoosier workers," Abound executive Steve Abely said in a prepared statement.  "We are excited about the opportunity to make America a global driver of renewable, affordable and abundant solar energy."
 

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Criminal charges
    KayNovember 13, 2012 8:29 PM
    This seems strange to me - there are many articles that say Abound Solar not only is bankrupt but facing criminal charges.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • Bum deal
    ClayDecember 31, 2010 5:39 PM
    Tipton got a bum deal from the union workers that went on a one-day strike making Chrysler buckle under demands to build the plant there.It's all in the newspapers if you want to spend the effort to look it up.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • Luxurious
    oliviaOctober 30, 2010 8:09 AM
    Its nice to be rich...and this article is quite good and interesting...
    used cars
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • Stick it streetfighter
    TerryJuly 12, 2010 10:20 AM
    For you the glass will always be half empty until a new republican administration is in office. The last one had two terms to get something done, pissed it away, and left us on the brink of ruin. Of course, you will never give credit where credit is due, because you are a bigoted naysayer, with no vision.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • Great for Tipton
    RichJuly 3, 2010 10:36 PM
    I feel great for the citizens of Tipton...a great small Indiana town(the kind of town with great character our country needs!) which got a bum deal from Getrag. From a citizen of Fishers, I say congratulations to the people and community of Tipton!
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
    • B.O. =B.S.
      streetfighterJuly 3, 2010 7:10 PM
      The fact is that most of our solar panels are made out of the U.S. by companies like G.E. due to lower costs. Now this government, that hasn't been able to fix anything so far is going to underwrite all these solar cells that will take care of our electrical production. Giving it away, it will still cost too much. Billions has been spent on solar research, and where the hell is it at our level? By the time this is viable we could have five or ten nuclear plants functioning. You won't even see a blip of electical energy from solar power from this production. Costs of solar panels has been fixed at $4.50 per kilowatt hour and all the government B.S. and research hasn't brought it down one dime. For a simple water heater they are charging thousnds of dollars. After all, the great dream of B.O. to double production from one percent to two percent in ten years is nothing but pure B.S. By they time they steal all the money they can and misappropriate and just plain lose it, how many jobs are we really going to get? So much B.O. B.S. Much as we want solar to work, it isn't going to take over anytime soon. So Indiana is glad they sucked up some government largesse. Tune in five years from now.
      Reply to CommentFlag Comment
      • Team work
        houseofcorsJuly 3, 2010 1:46 PM
        This great announcement for Indiana and the US as a whole came through President Obama's push for clean energy and Mitch Daniel's business emphasis. Neither could do it alone. Time each party recognize the others contributions.
        Reply to CommentFlag Comment

      Post a comment to this story

      COMMENTS POLICY
      We reserve the right to remove any post that we feel is obscene, profane, vulgar, racist, sexually explicit, abusive, or hateful.
       
      You are legally responsible for what you post and your anonymity is not guaranteed.
       
      Posts that insult, defame, threaten, harass or abuse other readers or people mentioned in IBJ editorial content are also subject to removal. Please respect the privacy of individuals and refrain from posting personal information.
       
      No solicitations, spamming or advertisements are allowed. Readers may post links to other informational websites that are relevant to the topic at hand, but please do not link to objectionable material.
       
      We may remove messages that are unrelated to the topic, encourage illegal activity, use all capital letters or are unreadable.
       

      Messages that are flagged by readers as objectionable will be reviewed and may or may not be removed. Please do not flag a post simply because you disagree with it.

      ADVANCED SEARCH
      Sponsored by
      ADVERTISEMENT

      facebook - twitter on Facebook & Twitter

      Follow on TwitterFollow IBJ on Facebook:
      Follow on TwitterFollow IBJ's Tweets on these topics:
       
      Subscribe to IBJ

      1. So the Mayor adds another non value added layer to having a vehicle towed? Whereby the City Government RECIEVES AN ILLEGAL KICKBACK FROM A LGOISTICS COMPANY THAT SUBS THE WORK TO LOCAL TOW COMPANIES? What is the service the City performs for receiving the "tribute"? This is RICO!!!!! What a corrupt and unnecessary layer. What a dirtbag Mayor and his cronies.

      2. Owner occupied housing. Clear enough?

      3. So people think I am paranoid. It's from experience in dealing with puds requested by developers who make major donations themselves to representatives, have nice fund raisers for those running for office and hide through pac's. then there are the public relation firms. You will note some pr comments below. You there Clyde Lee? My opinion. Commercial along 421, great. Multifamily housing, terrible idea that will change the town. Senior condos or zero lot line homes west, great. I suggest keeping all entries to commercial areas at 421. All entries to owner occupied on sycamore. Will keep the traffic on sycamore down some. Two other things. You can't trust what will be there in 10 years. Steve builds quality stuff, but areas change over time. Look at the changes at the wall mart center at 86th and 421 over the last 10 years. Look at the apartments and neighborhoods behind St Vincent's. Raintree properties WILL decrease in value if commercial and multifamily goes in near. It has already been happening around the bridges area. The houses that have been sold recently are way below market. Several deals not closed due to the Illinois construction and the whole unsurety of the bridges. It's pretty simple, Zionsville will approve the whole thing because the city council has been groomed over a LONG period of time for this. I might even suggest some are in their position as a result of this.

      4. Esta, do you have a dog in this fight? You seem to really want to knock anyone against this project. No, I didn't move to Indiana for the architecture. I moved here for that red barn in the field. The horses and fields of corn. A place that is NOT overdeveloped. There are plenty of nearby places in Indianapolis that could be REDEVELOPED instead.

      5. RKW - OK, we get it, you're paranoid. The question is, are you paranoid enough? Greg - Yes, Pittman(s) is (are) at it again. They are developers, they build things. It's what they do. So when you go to work tomorrow, Greg, you're at it again too. Cliff - Really? You moved to Indiana for its progressive architecture? That's like moving to England for the cuisine. Zionsvillain - The house you moved to was once a field or woods. I'm willing to bet folks were upset when that ground was plowed under and a house was built. But I guess now that you are in, everything should stop? "My house was OK, but the next one is sprawl." SE Guy - Please don't paint us with such a wide brush. Most reasonable Zionsville residents welcome planned, measured development.

      ADVERTISEMENT