Swiss solar cell manufacturer Meyer Burger is building a new production facility in Colorado Springs. Aldo Svaldi reports in The Denver Post:
Meyer Burger, a Swiss maker of solar cells and modules, will locate a new manufacturing plant in Colorado Springs as it boosts its U.S. presence, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade announced Monday.
The new plant is expected to bring up to 380 paying an average annual wage of $77,842, which is nearly 130% of the average annual wage in El Paso County. Project managers, operators, facility managers, process engineers, and maintenance personnel are among the positions that will be added.
On Thursday morning, the Colorado Economic Development Commission approved $4.9 million in Job Growth Incentive Tax Credits for the company under the codename Project Blanc. Those credits can offset future state taxes, provided the company creates the targeted number of jobs at the stated salary range within an eight-year period.
An additional $84 million in incentives and support is coming from El Paso County, Colorado Springs Utilities, the City of Colorado Springs, and the Colorado Springs Chamber & Economic Development Corporation Deal Closing Fund and some other sources.
Combined, that works out to about $234,210 in combined state and local support per job being created. A figure for the capital investment in the plant was not available.
The company said it expects to start production in the second half of 2024 with an initial capacity of 2 gigawatts per year. The plant will supply solar cells to a solar module production facility in Arizona.
Read more here.