Published: September 26, 2009 09:47 pm      

Solar company eyes Getrag site

Monday meeting to disclose some details

Less than a year after Getrag Transmission Manufacturing LLC filed for bankruptcy and halted work on a plant in Tipton County, a renewable-energy firm is considering the Tipton facility for the manufacture of solar panels.

The Tipton County Commissioners, County Council and Redevelopment Commission have scheduled a meeting for 7 p.m. Monday in the commissioner’s chambers to learn some details of the inquiry.

The meeting has been called at the request of attorneys representing the county to discuss economic development.

Kenny Ziegler, president of the Board of Commissioners, said Friday the meeting concerns the Getrag plant at the intersection of U.S. 31 and Ind. 28.

The type of manufacturing company, number of potential jobs and local incentives would be disclosed at the meeting, the commissioner said.

“I’m optimistic,” Ziegler said. “I would rather have a building ready to go than not have a building. It’s not costing us any money.”

Sources say the company is based in the western U.S. and would produce solar panels, creating up to 800 jobs in Tipton County.

Blair West, spokesperson for the Indiana Economic Development Corp., said Friday nothing has been finalized.

“I can’t go into details on any prospects,” she said.

A determining factor in the plant’s location is the ability of the unnamed company to secure a loan from the U.S. Department of Energy.

“We’ll do everything we can to help,” Rep. Dan Burton, R-5th District, said. “We’re going to get Sen. Richard Lugar, Sen. Evan Bayh and Rep. Joe Donnelly to sign a letter to the agency to get the loan approved.”

Burton said he is aware several companies have been looking at the Tipton facility.

“This is a bipartisan issue,” he said. “It’s about bringing jobs to Tipton and Kokomo. The two areas have been hit hard.”

Jeb Conrad, president of the Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance, said he had heard two or three companies were looking at the Getrag site.

“I heard one was a renewable-energy company,” he said. “That would be great for the region. It ties in with an emerging industry we’re trying to develop.”

Tipton County is one of two finalists for the manufacturing facility, several sources said, though they did not know the location of the competing site. But Idaho television station KTVB reported Wednesday a solar-panel manufacturing company was looking at a facility in Nampa, Idaho, that would employ 400 people immediately and double the size of the work force in a few years.

KTVB reported Nampa was one of two finalists for the plant.

The Howey Political Report said Thursday on its Web site that Fiat SpA/Chrysler is preparing a bid for the abandoned plant.

Chrysler Group LLC did consider the plant several months ago but has not expressed an interest in recent months, several sources said.

A Chrysler spokesman declined to comment on the claim.

Chrysler and Getrag announced a partnership to construct the plant in Tipton County in 2007. But the project was canceled after Chrysler filed suit against Getrag over financing of the plant.

Getrag Transmission Manufacturing filed for bankruptcy last October.

At the time, the 781,500-square-foot facility was 90 percent completed and an investment of $530 million had been made. The federal bankruptcy court in Detroit turned the facility over to a trustees group, consisting of the contractors still owed money on the project, to sell the property for a minimum of $45 million.

• Ken de la Bastide is the Kokomo Tribune enterprise editor. He can be reached at (765) 454-8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com