Former Ford Plant Renewed as a Renewable Energy Manufacturer

Wixom, MI – Ford Motor Company’s vacant Wixom, Mich., plant is slated to be converted to a solar and battery power manufacturing center beginning early next year and will come on line in late 2011. The 52-year-old factory will be retooled to house three clean energy manufacturers: Clairvoyant Energy of California, Xtreme Power of Texas, and the Swiss company Oerlikon Solar. Situated on a 320-acre lot, the Wixom plant will become one of the largest clean energy manufacturing centers in the United States and has already been dubbed the centerpiece of a green manufacturing revival in Michigan. The plant’s retooling is expected to create more than 4,000 quality green-collar jobs.

Michigan, a state whose unemployment rate reached 15 percent last month, is turning to clean energy as a way to create jobs for its residents. To that end, Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm has taken aggressive steps to promote Michigan as a center of alternative energy projects. “Michigan intends to lead the nation in this green industrial revolution,” Granholm said.

Job Creation
The Wixom clean energy manufacturing center will create nearly as many jobs as the site had during its peak as an auto assembly plant. At its height in 1972, the Wixom plant employed more than 5,000 workers, a number that has dwindled to 3,000 in recent years. Xtreme Power expects to hire as many as 2,500 workers to produce its large-scale renewable energy power storage systems. Clairvoyant’s high efficiency solar panel manufacturing will generate 270 new jobs, with the potential for 700 more in the future as demand for their products increases. Oerlikon Solar plans to locate sales and support staff jobs in Wixom but did not speculate on the plant’s job creation potential. According to Ford, thousands of indirect jobs will also be created through suppliers, transportation and logistics, and retail, among others.

The project also includes a proposed Renewable Energy Research and Training Center, which will provide access to research and training facilities and is intended to provide universities with on-site applied research courses in renewable energy.

Other projects, including an amusement park, were nominated for the site, but officials selected the energy park project because, with an average annual salary of $40,000 per year, clean energy manufacturing jobs pay more.

State Rep. Mike Huckleberry underscored the importance of job creation in the region: “We need manufacturing jobs,” said Huckleberry. “We have people going to bed hungry in my town. They need jobs.”

Green Manufacturing
Michigan has heavily lobbied for investment in alternative energy projects. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while manufacturing jobs in Michigan have declined by 14 percent since 2005, the number of green jobs has grown by 8 percent in the same period.

David Hardee, CEO of Clairvoyant Energy, sees the new plant as a launching pad for Michigan to become the Silicon Valley of renewable energy. It is in an ideal location for clean energy manufacturing because of the region’s existing skilled labor pool, supplier base, infrastructure, and manufacturing expertise. Hardee noted that his company would benefit from proximity to glass manufacturers. “Solar panels require a lot of glass, and Michigan is the glass capital of the U.S.,” he said. According to Jeannine Sargent, CEO of Oerlikon Solar, “with a strong local workforce and the support of Wixom and the state, we are confident that we can help Michigan leverage its extensive manufacturing infrastructure for clean renewable energy.”

State officials are confident that Michigan’s highly developed infrastructure – which includes rail, natural gas, and electric power access – coupled with 4.7 million square feet of available space in the Wixom facility, will attract other renewable energy companies. Xtreme Power and Clairvoyant Energy will occupy approximately half the space, leaving 2.7 million square feet for other renewable energy manufacturing companies. Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. underscored his company’s commitment to job creation and sustainable energy: “I can’t imagine a better way to use this facility for our children and our grandchildren. We’re going to put this plant and the skilled workers of Michigan back to work.”

Funding and Financing
Recently created state and local incentives – which include advanced battery and solar PV tax credits, Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) job creation tax credits, Renaissance Zone tax incentives and brownfield tax credits – were the primary impetus of the redevelopment project. Additionally, state lawmakers approved a $100 million tax credit for the project. Along with the MEGA grants, the state Senate also approved measures that increase transparency and accountability on how the credits are spent, along with reporting requirements regarding how many jobs were created as a result. For their part, Xtreme Power and Clairvoyant Energy will contribute a total of $725 million dollars to the project. The three companies are also in the process of applying for federal stimulus funds from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Public Private Partnerships
Gov. Granholm noted that the creation of the park resulted from close collaboration between the private sector, state and local government. According to Phil Horlock, Chairman and CEO of Ford Motor Land Development Corporation, the real estate arm of Ford Motors, “This redevelopment project is a direct result of Ford and the developers working collaboratively with state and local government officials to support a vision for a greener technology future for Michigan. We had many options for this land, but we believe this project, which revitalizes a closed auto plant and the local community, has the greatest potential to bring green jobs and economic development to the region.”

With the support of local, state and federal policies and incentives, Gov. Granholm’s redevelopment vision is quickly becoming a reality. Granholm called the Wixom plant “symbolic of the Michigan that we are to become” and compared it to the mythical Phoenix, a bird that emerges reborn from its own ashes. Clairvoyant’s Hardee said, “[We are] fully energized to respond to the United States’ call to create the green jobs of tomorrow – today. There is no better time than now, no better place than Michigan, and no better set of partners than Oerlikon Solar and Ford Motor Company.”

For more information, contact:
Megan Brown
State of Michigan
517-335-6397