Great Lakes Towers gets ready to build wind turbines

It looks like the fabled farms of wind turbines and the factories that make them are starting to come to Michigan.Brownstown-based Great Lakes Towers is the first to sign up for duty. The alternative-energy start-up is in the process of securing financing to build wind turbines and develop the wind farms that will house them on the eastern half of the continental U.S.It plans to choose the location of its new factory soon. It’s a move that is expected to create 50-60 jobs when it’s up and running next year and up to 150 by 2011. Most of these jobs will be in engineering and skilled trades.The company also chose Michigan for a couple of key reasons. First off the state’s windy climate makes it a prime location to build wind farms. Second, its central location in the Great Lakes will make it easier to ship the turbines.”Having direct access to the Great Lakes is very important for us,” says Ian D. Charles, Chief Financial Officer of Great Lakes Towers.Making this possible now is a $5 million loan from the Michigan Economic Development Authority, along with a $2 million forgivable loan. Source: Ian D. Charles, Chief Financial Officer of Great Lakes TowersWriter: Jon Zemke