TPI will build factory in Newton, add 500 jobs over next three years

NEWTON — A Rhode Island-based company announced plans today to build a factory here that will make wind turbine blades and employ 500 workers over the next three years. TPI Composites Inc., based in Warren, R.I., will begin construction next week on a 316,000-square-foot factory to make the blades for General Electric Energy’s 15-megawatt wind turbines. GE Energy said it has 6,500 of the turbines installed and expects to have 10,000 operating around the world by the end of next year. The companies said they have signed a long-term agreement for TPI to make the turbines at the new Newton plant. TPI also has wind turbine factories in China and Mexico. “TPI has given Newton and Jasper County one great Christmas present,” said Max Worthington, chairman of the Jasper County supervisors. Today's announcement at DMACC follows local government approval of the project. Earlier this month, the Jasper County Supervisors agreed to $4.85 million in bonding related to the project. Of that money, $3 million will be given as a grant to Opus Corporation, the company overseeing construction of the facility, to help with construction costs. Another $600,000 is earmarked for TPI and the county will give $800,000 to Jasper County Economic Development Corporation (JEDCO) to purchase the development property. TPI chief executive Steven C. Lockard said the company’s factory — located on 33 acres just west of the biodiesel plant in northeast Newton — will make turbine blades that weigh up to 20,000 pounds and are up to 150-feet long. The new business will help offset Whirlpool Corp.’s decision last year to eliminate 1,800 jobs at its former Maytag factory and corporate headquarters. Newton Mayor Chaz Allen said today that the community banded together after the Whirlpool decision to “take its destiny into its own hands. “This is a new chapter in our community’s future,” he said. Gov. Chet Culver said it is an example of the importance of partnerships, which he said has included local, state and federal governments and private industry. He said he was proud of the resilience the people of Newton have shown. “You have clearly been through a lot in the last couple of years and through it all you have shown great strength and character,” Culver told residents at DMACC Monday. “So today is a new day, a hopeful day in Newton.”