“Allentown” to Boomtown

Spanish wind technology giant Gamesa opened its first North American plant in Pennsylvania three years ago. Credit:Gamesa USA

Pennsylvania’s Clean Energy Revitalization

Pennsylvania was once a symbol of the depressing demise of American manufacturing. The latter decades of the 20^th century were marked by locks and chains at factory gates as plant after plant closed. A generation of blue-collar workers struggled to make ends meet and survive in a changing economy which no longer seemed to value them or their skills. Billy Joel memorialized the era in his 1982 pop hit “Allentown.”

Now, thanks to forward-thinking policies from Democratic Governor Ed Rendell that link clean energy development to jobs, plus a Rendell administration refusal to give up on the manufacturing sector, Pennsylvania is banishing that image as it attracts considerable investments, not only its workforce and economy, but also its environment.

One of the biggest coups came when Spanish wind technology giant Gamesa decided to locate its first North American plant in Pennsylvania.

According to company spokesman Michael Peck, the company has invested $175 million and created 1,160 union jobs in the state since January, 2005, when it broke ground for its facility in the picturesque Allegheny Mountain community of Ebensburg, 74 miles east of Pittsburgh.

In addition to the Ebensburg plant, Gamesa chose Philadelphia for its headquarters and built another manufacturing plant in Fairless Hills, northeast of Philadelphia on the site of a shuttered United States Steel Company factory.

Gamesa’s decision to base itself in Pennsylvania didn’t just happen. It took the concerted, cooperative efforts of a number of players, ranging from state and local government, workforce development groups, and organized labor.

Key to the entire deal was Pennsylvania’s passage in 2004 of an aggressive measure requiring 18 percent of the state’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2021. This meant that if Gamesa moved to Pennsylvania it would have a ready market for not only its turbines, but for the wind energy those turbines produce. The company plans to develop more wind farms in the state.

Secondly, workforce groups created a detailed database of the skills available from dislocated steel workers, which they presented to Gamesa to prove the region could staff its plants. Johnstown Area Regional Industries, an economic development agency, and PA CareerLink, a website linking businesses and workers, collected resumes and scheduled job interviews.

In fall 2006, the United Steelworkers of America informed Gamesa that a majority of employees at both facilities had signed pledge cards. Their first contract was ratified in June 2007, and included agreements on raises, bonuses and benefits with a provision that a skill-based incentive program be introduced. The Steelworkers union is a founding member of the Apollo Alliance.

Finally, in May 2008, the Steelworkers reached agreement on the incentive program with Gamesa, though both sides were still hammering out some details. The plan lays out a reward system for employees who take part in extra training programs, giving employees at these plants real reasons to stay on the cutting edge of the industry.

“This first-of-its-kind labor agreement proves that we can grow our economy, create skilled positions for our hardworking people, and improve the quality of our environment by harnessing the power of the clean, natural resources we have in abundance,” said former Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty, and a member of the Apollo Alliance board of directors. “The partnership between Gamesa and the United Steelworkers highlights the promise of Pennsylvania’s growing green economy.”

Cassandra Stern, a former reporter for The Washington Post, is a contributor to the Apollo Alliance.

For More Information:

Gamesa
Web site: http://www.gamesa.es/en