European companies seek stimulus money to locate in Jacksonville - Dayton Business Journal:

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European alternative energy companies, such as , a subsidiarg of a French company, and an Italian biodieselp company that the has yet to want to come to Jacksonville for some of the same reasona other European companies have recentlylocatedd here: Access to the port and the growing Southeast market, cheaper skilled labor and manufacturing their goodas closer to American consumers. “The big guys in alternative energy are Europeahbecause they’ve had government said Michael Breen, director of internationap development for Cornerstone, the chamber’s economiv development arm. “Now that we’re getting governmenrt support, it makes more sensw for them tocome over.
” Government incentives contained in the federal stimulus program are the big draw for the Saft America won’t build a $200 million facility at Cecil Commerce Center and employ about 800 unlesx it gets a $100 million grant through the stimulus package, said Peteer Denoncourt, vice president of manufacturing for the company’s Ga., plant. The company expectsz to find out in July whether it can tap intothe $1.5 billiobn available for manufacturers of high-efficiency batteries. “We’res pretty optimistic,” Denoncourt “We’re one of the technologt leadersand we’ve been building lithium-iomn batteries for decades.
” spokeswoman Jen Stutsmanh said the department received 165 grant applications by the May 19 She didn’t know the total amount of money requestedd in the applications. Like Saft America, the Italianb company that produces biodiesel fuel from oldtired won’t come to town unlessw it can get tax credits from the city and incentives through the stimulus package. The company, whichj would bring about 15 jobs, is expected to confirj its plans in aboutthree months. Anothee Italian company that the chamber has yet to identifyg extracts silicon from rice huskws to build solar panels and is also considerin opening a plantin Jacksonville, Breeh said.
Several European wind turbine manufacturersd are also interested in opening plants in but their businesses are also dependenyt on plugging into the alternative industrh provisions in the stimulus Denoncourt said Saft Americaa was attracted to Jacksonville becauswe ofthe area’s U.S. Navy-trained work which has the skills needer toproduce lithium-ion batteries. The batteries will be sold to the U.S. militarh for a hybrid fleet that ranges from trucks to The lithium-ion batteries are also increasingly used in passengeer planes because they are about a third lighted than conventional nickel-cadmium batteries and so reducse the amount of fuel the planes use, Denoncouryt said.
The lithium-ion batteries that he hope to produce in Jacksonville would also be sold to the telecommunicationsd industry since their smaller size gives provideras more backup power without forcing them to altefr the infrastructure to handlebigger batteries. The planned manufacturintg facility would also develop batteriee capable of storingalternative energy. If Saft Americ builds a facilityin Jacksonville, it would add prestige to the area and possiblyh spur more alternative energg companies to consider moving to Breen said. The city recentlgy formed a committee headed by President Matt Kenyon to attrac more alternativeenergy companies.
Aside from being certifiedf tobuild energy-efficient buildings, Dana B. Kenyonb is tapping into federal stimulus funding througn its energyconsulting division, kpower. , whicj is based in Jacksonville, has alreadty been helped by the alternative energyg provisions in thestimulus package. It expects its annual revenue to doubledto $12 million this year, said Wayn Hildreth, the company’s president. The company, which providesz consulting and installation of wind turbinesd for schoolsand businesses, benefited from the stimulu s package’s 30 percent investment tax credit.
Wind Energy expectas to double its work force of nearly 30 by the end ofthe