Today Governor Granholm kicks off a month long series of meetings on alternative energy, visiting Michigan businesses that are working to make us one of the leaders in the nation in providing clean and renewable energy sources.

With our manufacturers being hit hard by the forces of globalization, right now we need to focus on industries, like alternative energy, with growing demand.  Finding and commercializing alternative sources of energy is going to be critical for our nation, and if we lead the way in Michigan, it can mean thousands and thousands of jobs for Michigan citizens.

We know that wind can provide inexpensive electricity, so I’ll be talking to leaders in the wind energy industry about ways we can expand production in Michigan and give Michigan workers the chance to build and assemble wind turbines that can be used around the world!

K&M Machine Fabricating in Cassopolis is one such company. K & M builds the components for wind turbines- an industry where current supply can’t meet the growing nationwide demand.

According to a study by the Renewable Energy Policy Project, the manufacturing of wind turbines and towers will be a great benefit to any state that can step up production.

Using U.S. Economic Census data, REPP could identify the number of U.S. firms that manufacture towers and estimated that each state would receive a percentage of revenue based on their manufacturing capacity. For example, if 121 Michigan firms can manufacture towers and 121 represents 4% of the U.S. market, then Michigan gets 4% of the money invested to achieve 50,000 MW of wind.

REPP’s analysis estimates that Michigan could receive $1,468,000 in investments and 10,369 manufacturing jobs.

As more states move towards a renewable energy portfolio, the potential for partnership grows for manufacturers.

For wind, supply bottlenecks were identified for 50% of the components studied. Identifying companies that produce the undersupplied components and encouraging them to increase their capacity is a potential next step. REPP is also urging states to consider multi-state agreements between states with high renewable resource potential and those with high manufacturing potential.

That should be Michigan, and companies like K & M play a crucial role. K & M employs 150 workers at this point, and it is growing.

K&M has been a good example of growth. Its owner, Michael McLoughlin, celebrated his 20th year at the helm of the company two years ago by giving each of his 150 employees $100 for each year of service. Each hourly employee with at least one year of service received a bonus of at least $4,200. And the company has been hiring.

It reported sales of $48 million in 2005, up from about $40 million in 2003.

Good paying jobs, clean energy, revenue from manufacturing, high-growth industry. What more could you ask for?

This entry was posted on Monday, November 5th, 2007 at 11:16 am and is filed under Alternative Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.