Green jobs blow into Manistee & Copemish

Feb. 1, 2009

Green jobs blow into Manistee & Copemish
Anne Stanton 2/2/09


A few hundred feet from the fanfare of the presidential inauguration last week stood a graceful wind energy machine called Windspire. This newest generation wind machine will begin production in Manistee, starting this week.
What’s more, the Windspire will be distributed throughout the state by Contractors Building Supply, a business based in the nearby, tiny town of Copemish, which specializes in energy-efficient products such as solar attic fans, energy-efficient windows and solar water heaters.
The Windspire solves a lot of problems, which has plagued early wind energy generators. It has an attractive design (for those who think windmills are ugly) and doesn’t have wide propellers, which are known to whack migrating birds.
The near silent Windspire stands about 30 feet high and is four feet wide, so it doesn’t need much space.
MasTech will start manufacturing WindSpire as early as this week, with an initial workforce of 41 employees (no less than 500 people applied). The company expects it will add a total of 116 people, as well as rely on regional suppliers for parts. About 98 percent of Windspire parts will come from Michigan companies, so that means even more jobs, according to a press release issued last week.

1,000 PER MONTH
WindSpires are expected to roll off the line in March, with production ramped up to 1,000 a month by the end of this year. An estimated 75 percent of Windspires will be sold overseas, said Mike Hess, CEO of Mariah Power in the press release.
“China has over 70 million people who are not connected to the national electricity grid,” Hess said. “Five million people in Latin America and Mexico are without power. And a Windspire can produce about 44 percent of the power required by a home in Japan and 57 percent of the power needed by a European home.”
MasTech , based in Sterling Heights, currently produces conveyor systems in Manistee. It formed a partnership with Mariah Power of Reno, Nevada, and opens its new facility in Manistee this week after just three months of planning.
On top of the Manistee jobs, Contractors Building Supply (CBS) will soon hire wind and solar dealers throughout most of Michigan to sell Windspire to homeowners and small business owners, said Mary Bigelow, the company’s business developer .
The total price tag to buy and install a wind machine is $8,000 minus the $1,500 federal tax credit available to homeowners. The company has a calculator on its website to estimate savings. For the average home, it would take 10 to 13 years for utility bill savings to equal the amount of the investment. That’s based on a wind speed of 12 mph, which is typical in Northern Michigan.
The payback could be shorter if utility costs are doubled within the next five years, as they’re expected to do, Bigelow said.

FIGHTING HIGH BILLS
Bigelow hopes the new admin-istration will amp up the tax credit. (There’s no state tax incentive, which she doubts will change given the state’s poor economy.)
“I’d like the government to do something for the lower income consumers, so they could invest in something like this. My sister, who lost her job of 14 years and finally found a new one, called me crying after she opened her electric bill. She had turned her heat way down, really cut back on the hot water, yet her bill was exactly the same. I looked at it, and, yes, she did dramatically drop the amount of kilowatt hours, but her cost of utilities went way up. Electric power has always gone up, and it always will.”
Bigelow urged homeowners to take steps to conserve energy in their home. The company’s website, windowswindandsolar.com, has tips for consumers on how to save energy.
Homeowners will be able to get kilowatt credit for energy they don’t use thanks to Michigan’s new net metering law passed in October 2008. So once you’ve made back your investment, then your home can actually become a profit center, Bigelow said.
“It’s clean energy, and it’s taking some of the pressure off the grid, and once it’s paid off, then everything it produces is free.” Contractors Building Service also distributes solar hot water heaters at a total cost of about $7,000, which has a payback of just seven years, she said.
“People don’t realize this, but 20 percent of their utility bill goes toward heating their water,” she said.
With the solar water system, water is preheated with the sun and stays hot because of its well-insulated
water tank.
“Our groundwater in Michigan is about 55 degrees. Even in the winter, the sun could heat your water to 90 degrees. That means it only has to be heated another 30 degrees for use in the shower or dishwasher. During summer months one can get 100 percent of their hot water from the sun,” Bigelow said.
“There are a lot of good reasons to invest in wind energy,” she added. “Michigan sends greater than $16 billion over state lines each year to pay for our electricity and gas. If we all became micro-generators with solar and wind revenue, we’d keep some of those revenue dollars in our state.”
MasTech received a $400,000 Community Development Block Grant from Manistee County and garnered other support from the state and local agencies.
Bigelow said that Mariah Power and MasTech were impressed by the commitment of Manistee County and Michigan to small business and manufacturing.

For more information on buying Windspire or a solar water heater, call Contractors Building Service in Copemish at 231-378-2936.