By Jo Mathis
Lapeer Industries opened in 1975 as a military contractor, building vehicle components for such companies as Lockheed Martin.About three years ago, company officials realized they better start looking for new sources of revenue so as not to remain solely dependent on defense.
Their efforts paid off. Last year, the Lapeer County manufacturer won a three-year contract to make wind turbine parts for Vestas, a Danish renewable energy business. And that contract is leading to others, which means the company that was once 95 percent defense is now 65 defense, 35 percent alternative energy.
“Everyone knows about the unemployment in the state as well as Lapeer County,” said Lapeer Industries President and CEO Dan Schreiber. “If we were to stick strictly to the past, we’d have a limited customer base. By going to alternative energy, we’re opening that up to the solar, the wind, the geo-thermal, and the nuclear. It’s just absolutely good for everybody.”
Using new state-of-the-art equipment, Lapeer Industries makes the turbine parts that are made of any kind of steel or aluminum. The company has hired an additional 150 people because of the new contracts, and expects to bring on 150 to 200 more in the next two years.
In addition to Vestas, Lapeer Industries is now working on purchase orders from companies in Germany and Spain. That means the company is working with three of the five major wind turbine industry builders.
Jennifer Alvarado, executive director of the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association, said Lapeer Industries has an opportunity to become a leader that will teach other Michigan companies.
“They’re able to step forward into what I see as one of the forefronts of our next big industry turnover across the country and in Michigan, and that’s manufacturing for wind and sustainable energy resources, including energy efficiency,” she said. “I really think it takes companies to envision a new way of doing business and switching over to sustainable industries, which we see happening.”
Alvarado said the fact that Michigan has faced tough hurdles recently, following many successful years with the auto and supplies industries, means the time is right for this industry to expand here.
“We’ve really had to look inward and drill down to our core services, and that’s what makes Michigan great, that’s what allows Michigan to be a leader, and that’s why people are trying to come here and work with us,” she said. “And that’s why there’s a lot of interest in Michigan — because of what we’ve been able to do in the past. We’ve not begun yet to tap the potential.”
The burgeoning wind industry has a cheerleader in Governor Jennifer M. Granholm, who last month announced that nine small Michigan manufacturers will share $20 million in clean energy advanced manufacturing grants and loans from the federal stimulus program.
URV USA in Rochester will establish a foundry in Eaton Rapids to produce castings for wind energy system components, employing 100 to 150 people by the time it opens in 2012. Another 50 jobs will be created when Great Lakes Industry in Jackson converts its existing gear manufacturing operations to make precision gear boxes for large wind turbines.
And Ventower Industries in Monroe, now under construction, will build the structural steel towers used to support commercial-sized wind turbines. The company announced last week that it will employ about 150 people by early 2012.
“Michigan’s expertise in manufacturing makes our state a natural to become a leader in clean energy advanced manufacturing,” the governor noted when making the announcement at the Michigan Energy Fair in Novi.
While some have argued that the cost of creating these new jobs is too heavy a burden for taxpayers, others hope that manufacturing diversification is just the spark the state needs to expand beyond the automobile industry. Last year, when more than $1.9 million in federal funds was granted to three Michigan wind energy projects, U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow said: “A wind turbine has over 8,000 individual parts, and they all can be made right here in Michigan.”
