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Lapeer Industries gets ready to add 'green' jobs

Monday, October 26, 2009

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Randy Conat
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LAPEER (WJRT) -- (10/26/09) -- Dozens of green energy jobs are coming to Mid-Michigan.

They're coming to a company that built its reputation manufacturing components for military vehicles.

Sparks are flying inside Lapeer Industries as new equipment is tested. The company has just won a three-year contract to make wind turbine materials for Vestas, a Danish renewable energy business.

"We're building pretty much all the components that are made out of any kind of steel, aluminum or stainless steel," Lapeer Industries President and CEO Dan Schreiber said.

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And that means the Lapeer-based company will be hiring soon. "We'll start out slowly as we ramp into it next year. We'll do probably 100 next year, then by 2011, I'll say we'll double it."

The top priority will be finding welders who can master the metric system.

"It's new quality standards, new everything. So it's not like doing quality the old fashioned way. This is all the European standards, European specifications and European quality,." Schreiber said.

Lapeer Industries has been a military contractor for 35 years. It has built components for General Dynamics, Raytheon and Lockheed-Martin. Three years ago, the company started moving toward renewable energy systems.

"We'll buy the material, we'll fabricate, we'll form, we'll weld, we'll machine, we'll sandblast, we'll paint, we'll assemble, all in Lapeer County," Schreiber said.

Lapeer Industries has been talking with other wind turbine makers in Europe. It's an industry that could grow substantially over the next few years in Mid-Michigan.

"It'll be very good for Lapeer Industries, Lapeer County and the people of Michigan," Schreiber said.

The company is seeking tax breaks from Lapeer County to bring in the manufacturing jobs.

The first new hires are expected to begin work in early 2010.

More information: Click this link to find out more about upcoming job openings at Lapeer Industries.