By Justin L. Engel | The Saginaw News
As head of a major Saginaw County corporation, Rick Doornbos is no stranger to the lure of tax breaks.
In December 2008, the Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. president and CEO’s company banked the state’s biggest tax incentive ever worth up to $350 million, paving the way for a major expansion.
So Friday’s news that five Great Lakes Bay Region companies, including Hemlock, will get more than $200 million in federal tax cuts rang a familiar, promising bell for Doornbos.
“Green jobs are real, and this announcement shows that the United States is serious about becoming a global leader in alternative energy technologies,” said Doornbos, the solar energy manufacturing giant’s leader.
President Barack Obama announced the Hemlock funding as part of a $2.3 billion stimulus award aimed at clean energy manufacturing.
HSC is in line for the region’s largest dose of federal support with $141.8 million, which officials say will support the Thomas Township company’s latest $1 billion expansion. Other recipients include Saginaw’s Merrill Technologies Group, Midland’s Dow Chemical Co., Bay County’s Dow Corning Corp. and Flint’s Rogers Foam Automotive Corp.
“Hemlock Semiconductor is creating more than 1,500 jobs while investing billions of dollars in Michigan and Tennessee and will continue to grow as the country and world commit to a clean energy future,” Doornbos said.
HSC, the world’s leading producer of silicon used in solar energy technology, has invested $2.5 billion at its Geddes Road headquarters since 2005. In 2008, the company announced it would build a $1.2 billion plant in Clarksville, Tenn.
Stephanie A. Burns, president and CEO of Dow Corning, also hailed the federal tax breaks.
“These manufacturing tax credits are a critical step in establishing new clean-technology manufacturing jobs to the United States,” she said. “This bold investment will propel America into an era of sustained, renewable energy use and help put Americans back to work.”
Dow Corning — majority owner of HSC — will receive $27.3 million in credits for production at the monosilane gas facility crews began building next door to HSC’s campus in September. Monosilane is a key component in the production of thin-film solar panels.
Merrill Technologies Group will net $22 million in tax credits to aid the company’s $73 million investment in advanced manufacturing equipment for production of nacelles for Barre, Vt.-based Northern Power System’s 2.2 megawatt utility-scale wind turbine, a White House statement said. A nacelle, located at the top of a wind turbine, converts energy produced by the turbine’s rotation into electricity.
Dow Chemical, parent company of Dow Corning, was awarded $17.8 million for its production of photovoltaic cells built into residential and commercial roofing and siding products. The roof shingle, which doubles as an energy-generating solar panel, is expected to become available in limited quantities by mid-2010 and more widely available in 2011.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-supported tax credits announced Friday are expected to generate more than 17,000 jobs in 43 states, the White House statement read. Officials received 500 applications requesting more than $8 billion in tax credits.
