MILLVILLE - Business and government officials on Monday gathered before an empty, former manufacturing facility to officially announce the opening of solar panel factory that could be up and running by the middle of next year.
The 252,000-square-foot facility, near the intersection of South 2nd Street and Railroad Avenue, will be the future site of 260 new jobs, according to Michael Latefi, co-founder and chief financial officer of MX USA Manufacturing Inc., a partnership between two solar energy developers which will own and operate the factory.
"Photovoltaics is a 21st Century progression for the glass industry," said N.J. Board of Public Utilities President Jeanne Fox, referencing Millville's once bustling glass industry.
"Other jobs will come to Millville because of this factory. And incentives to both manufacturers and consumers will mean a booming green, clean economy."
Workers at the plant will produce solar panels and photovoltaic cells.
"This is enormous - usually it's manufacturing jobs that are going somewhere else," said U.S. Rep. Frank Lobiondo. "This is the reversal of that. This is a big win for Millville, New Jersey and for America."
Sen. Jeff Van Drew also praised the announcement, stating the plant will help those seeking jobs.
"This represents putting American workers back to work," he said. "Hopefully, this is only the beginning."
Construction plans call for additional 96,000-, 21,000- and 252,000-square-foot buildings at the site. Officials hope that phase of the opening will be wrapped up by January 2010.
"This is an exciting day for Millville; it's the beginning of yet another positive step in bettering the economy in Millville," said Mayor Tim Shannon.
The mayor later went on to give credit to Economic Development Director Don Ayres for landing the dead with MX USA.
Officials cited many of the federal and state incentives that eventually saw MX USA - made up of Italian solar manufacturing company MX Group SPA and the New York-based solar technology developer IPPsolar - decided to stake its claim in Millville.
IPPsolar representative Maziar Dalaneli following the press conference spoke of "many millions of dollars" in federal and state incentives.
Latefi stated that thanks to the incentives, MX USA will have a 25-cent "leg up" over similar companies in China, which currently leads the market in solar panel production.
At the local level, Ayres spoke of future Urban Enterprise Zone funding for the new plant.
"We had to communicate to (MX USA) that we had the right location and benefits, that the location was affordable with room to expand," said Ayres. "We let them know that Millville was 100 percent behind them.
"(UEZ funding) still has to be finalized, but expect significant UEZ resources for this."
According to Ayres, MX USA is currently working with a budget of approximately $84 million.
"The potential for long-term growth for this project, both for them and for the city and residents, is incredible," added Ayres.
Phillip Van Embden, who is currently working to renovate and reopen the Levoy Theater on High Street, called the announcement "one of the biggest things to happen for the city in decades."
According to Latefi, the majority of the 200-plus jobs will be in manufacturing, with some employees being brought over from Italy.
MX Group SPA currently operates one other solar panel manufacturing facility, located outside Milan.
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