Article published Mar 5, 2008
German company to build turbine plant by Butte
Official: Lack of industrial park cost Great Falls the project
JOHN S. ADAMS & ERIN MADISON
Tribune Staff Writers
HELENA Ñ Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Tuesday announced that Montana will soon be home to the first North American manufacturing facility for a German wind turbine company. Schweitzer, who held a scale model of a 2.5-megawatt FuhrlŠnder AG wind turbine while making the announcement, said the new manufacturing plant will bring at least 150 jobs to the Butte area. The plant will build the turbines, which have 150-footlong blades. Great Falls was one of four other Montana cities considered for the plant. Schweitzer made the announcement in his office, alongside Joachim FuhrlŠnder, CEO of FuhrlŠnder AG.
ÒWhy Montana? Well, because in Montana we are going to build a lot of wind projects,Ó Schweitzer said. ÒFuhrlŠnder will be in a position to manufacture the turbines near the location of their installation. It costs a lot of money to manufacture these É across the world and then ship them here.Ó Montana has about 50 wind power projects in various stages of development and discussion that could provide over 4,000 megawatts of energy, Schweitzer said. He credited the passage of a Òclean-andgreenÓ bill by the 2007 Legislature for providing the necessary incentives to attract FuhrlŠnderÕs new plant. ÒThis $25 million project will bring jobs and tax base to Butte, and is largely a result of our clean-and-green energy incentives,Ó Schweitzer said. Construction is set to begin this fall, with the plant expected to open sometime next year. Schweitzer and FuhrlŠnder said the plant could expand its operations in the future if the market for wind turbines continues to grow. The second phase of development for the plant includes plans to expand the highly specialized and labor-intensive blade manufacturing at the Butte site. If that happens, it could result in an additional 600 jobs, FuhrlŠnder said. Schweitzer said FuhrlŠnder began conversations with state officials in early 2007, when the company was considering several locations across the country. FurhlŠnder Ag currently has manufacturing plants in Germany and Brazil, and has plans to build plants in China and Vietnam. The new FuhrlŠnder AG plant will be built about five miles west of Butte in a Tax Increment Financing District industrial park. Doney said that projects such as the FuhrlŠnder AG plant show why Great Falls needs to create an industrial park. The GFDA is working to build an industrial park north of town, but the group needs some substantial public investment to make the park a reality, Doney said. Brett Doney, president of the Great Falls Development Association, said FuhrlŠnder visited Great Falls several months ago. ÒWe werenÕt competitive because we donÕt have shovelready industrial park sites,Ó Doney said Tuesday.