Michigan GREEN - Wind turbine company, Atwell-Hicks win MEGA abatements

Two alternative energy-related projects were advanced by the Michigan Economic Growth Authority this morning.

A startup company was given a tax abatement for a facility to manufacture towers for wind turbines and a real estate development consulting firm was given an incentive to grow its green consulting practice.

Great Lakes Towers L.L.C. received a 10-year tax abatement for a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Monroe. The company plans to start construction in the spring on the $20 million project, said CFO Ian Charles.

The project will create 150 new jobs and will be built on a site at the Port of Monroe, Charles said, so the company can take advantage of shipping products by water, rail and road.

"These are very big and very heavy, so we need to build a special facility," Charles said.

The standard size of a wind tower is 250 feet, but can range up to 320 feet or taller.

Charles said the company is taking temporary office space in Monroe and will move its corporate offices to the new facility once it is built.

The principals of the project have been working for almost a year to raise funds and create the new company. He said 80-percent of the money has been secured, "and we're making great progress on the rest."

The company also is seeking tax credits through the state's Brownfield program.

Also approved at the MEGA meeting is an incentive for Ann Arbor-based Atwell-Hicks to expand its practice in consulting for alternative energy companies.

Atwell-Hicks serves as a consultant for land acquisition, environmental assessment, civil engineering and other services for the development of real estate. The alternative energy sector has been a growing market for the company, said CEO Brian Wenzel, who added that this week they got involved with its 50th wind farm project nationally.

"We've recognized that this marketplace is the tip of the iceberg in the United States and we see tremendous growth opportunities," he said.

The new expansion will likely create 131 new jobs, Wenzel said, over seven years. The state approved a tax abatement for $1.4 million.

As part of the growth, Wenzel said the firm is looking at the possibility of a new headquarters building for the firm.

Though they looked at sites in Tennessee, Wenzel said it's important to stay in Ann Arbor.

"Alternative energy, specifically wind power, is where a lot of work is going right now," he said. "The work we're doing for those companies is very similar to work we've done for housing or retail developments. But for a wind farm, it's on a much larger scale."