By Art Mass

PUEBLO - Another major renewables energy business is coming to Colorado - one with a very familiar name. Wind-turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems has selected Pueblo as the site of a factory to build the towers that support its turbines, and according to the company, it will be the biggest turbine-tower factory in the world.

The formal announcement was made last Friday in Pueblo where business and community leaders celebrated one of the biggest economic development announcements in years.

Company on a Roll

This latest expansion news from Vestas follows the Danish
company’s announcement earlier this month that it will build
two plants in Brighton to make turbine blades and nacelles -
the turbine housings that include the generator, transformer
and gearbox. Vestas already has a blade-making plant in
Windsor, which currently has 200 workers and is expected to
have 650 at full employment.

Vestas plans to invest $240 million in Pueblo to build the
world’s largest wind tower facility and it hopes to be
manufacturing towers for its windmills by this time next year.

Eventually, the Danish manufacturer will eventually employ
nearly 2,500 people statewide.

A Boost for Ritter’s New Energy Economy

Nearly 400 people attended the Friday gathering that was
punctuated with speeches from Gov. Bill Ritter and Vestas
Towers President Bjarne Hansen. Governor Ritter had to be
feeling particularly pleased, as this latest expansion news
from Vestas is  another major step forward in his quest to make
Colorado the national leader in the “New Energy Economy.”

“I applaud Vestas for continuing to invest in Colorado - this
time in Pueblo - and bringing new jobs to one of the greatest
communities in the state,” Ritter said in a written statement.

“Vestas’ decision to locate what will be the world’s largest
wind-tower manufacturing plant here in Pueblo demonstrates that
our new energy economy is benefiting every corner of Colorado,”
he said. Ritter has often emphasized the expertise at the
National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden and other
federal facilities and universities to make Colorado a magnet
for the renewable energy industry.

Now that companies are moving to Colorado, the Governor
stressed the need for an increased commitment to education
within the state, saying that now that companies are moving
here, it’s important their jobs are filled by Coloradoans, not
mercenaries from other states.

Vestas’ Hansen had some salient comments of his own.

“The honeymoon is over and now we go to reality and see how
that works,” he said.

Why Pueblo?

Hansen said his company chose the city for the new
plant because of its rich history in steel making and the
opportunities to use Pueblo Community College to train new
employees. “You have had steel working in this community for
over 100 years,” he said. “We find that essential for what we
mean to do.”

Hansen told local reporters that the plant will be his
company’s largest single plant investment and when operating at
full capacity, capable of producing 1,000 tower units per year.
“The size of this facility, when it’s fully operational in
2010, will produce 50 percent of what we have now on the
globe,” Hansen said.

Craig Cox, executive director of the Colorado-based Interwest
Energy Alliance, a trade and advocacy group, said Colorado has
put policies in place to attract companies like Vestas, even
though other states can offer more financial incentives.

“I think that the governor’s aggressive pursuit of the new
energy economy is beginning to pay tangible benefits,” Cox said.

State economic development officials said Colorado offered
incentives ranging from $1 million to $1.5 million to land the
two Brighton plants, contingent on the number of jobs created.

Hansen thanked the Pueblo City Council, Pueblo County Board of
Commissioners and the Pueblo Economic Development Corporation
for their work to bring Vestas here. PEDCo spent several hours
working with the company and providing Vestas officials tours
of the city and potential sites, he said.

Today the Pueblo City Council is expected to vote on a
resolution to release $11.8 million from the half-cent sales
tax for economic development as an incentive to help Vestas
build its plant and train its workers.