BOSTON — Evergreen Solar, a global manufacturer of solar-energy products, will nearly triple the size of its workforce in Massachusetts over the next two years. It has announced a second major expansion of its Devens manufacturing facility currently under construction.
The Marlborough-based solar-power company announced that it would create an additional 350 new jobs at the former Fort Devens before the end of 2009 with an expansion of the original 300,000-square-foot plant now being built.
By adding 150,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space, Evergreen Solar executives said the new scope of the project will allow the company to increase its total workforce in the state to more than 1,000 employees — almost triple the 350 workers now based at headquarters in Marlborough.
“The vision for broad-scale solar adoption, through Gov. (Deval) Patrick’s innovative Commonwealth Solar incentive program plan for clean-energy jobs as well as the financial incentive package that the governor and the Legislature provided Evergreen, were key to our decision to put our first major manufacturing facility in Massachusetts,” said Evergreen Solar CEO Richard Feldt.
The announcement, made by Feldt and Patrick in Winthrop, came as Patrick prepares to deliver a major speech on the economy.
Despite signs of a shrinking labor force, Patrick and other Beacon Hill leaders have tried to make the argument that Massachusetts is well-positioned to withstand the coming recession by focusing on attracting and growing the state’s clean-energy and life-science industries.
“Evergreen Solar is at the leading edge of our clean-energy economy in Massachusetts,” said Patrick. “The expansion announced demonstrates what we can accomplish when the commonwealth works with industry leaders to create markets, jobs and opportunities in clean energy technology, for the benefit of our economy and our environment.”
The Devens Enterprise Commission last week gave Evergreen Solar the go-ahead on the expansion that will double the number of jobs at the Devens plant to 700.
The first phase of construction is scheduled to be complete by June.
Feldt credited the Patrick administration’s commitment to solar power as one of the key reasons the company decided to build in Massachusetts rather than locate in another state like New Mexico or Oregon.
Evergreen Solar won a $44 million financing package from the state last year to lure the company to Massachusetts where it is building its first full-scale manufacturing plant in the U.S.
Patrick has pledged to increase the amount of solar power installed statewide from 4 megawatts to 250 megawatts by 2017, and in January announced the Commonwealth Solar program backed by $68 million in grant money to help reduce the cost of installing solar power.
MassDevelopment, the quasi-public agency overseeing Devens redevelopment, worked out an $18.8 million tax incentive over 20 years to help lure the company last summer that allowed Evergreen Solar to reduce the cost of construction and still generate $37.6 million a year in local taxes.
The company also leases its 23 acres at Devens from MassDevelopment for $1 a year for the next 50 years, and received $23 million in state grants and $17.5 million in low-interest loans.
Since Evergreen Solar announced its Devens project last July, six major clean-energy companies have toured sites in Devens looking for a place to locate their businesses, with at least two of those companies expressing early interest in projects that would invest $100 million and create 100 new jobs each.
Both companies are still in negotiations.
“This speaks to the ongoing interest that has been generated by Evergreen’s decision to locate at Devens,” said Adam Bickelman, a spokesman for MassDevelopment.
State Rep. Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton, and Sen. Pamela Resor, D-Acton, have also filed legislation that would give Evergreen Solar an additional $1 million to $3 million in tax breaks.
Eldridge, who worked closely with the state in luring Bristol-Myers Squibb to Devens, called the news of Evergreen Solar’s decision to expand a testament to the governor’s commitment to alternative energy.
“This is a company building a product that will not contribute to global warming,” said Eldridge. “It’s creating a fairly substantial number of jobs in that region and dovetails nicely with the leadership Speaker (Sal) DiMasi has shown with his energy bill.”
