Solar Array, Gen. Mills detail expansions - Boston Business Journal:

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broke ground April 5 on the $100 million, 176,000-square-foot expansionj of its manufacturing facility Keith Bone, general manager of the local facility, told members of . AED held its quarterly meeting Thursdatat . Joe Hudgins, presidenrt and CEO of Solar Array Ventures, outlinec his company’s plan to build a massive sola r manufacturing plant onthe city’s Westside. Generao Mills’ expansion should be completedby November, Bone The cereal manufacturer will hire 60 additional employees, bringing additional payroll to the area of $3.5 million.
The expansion also brings $30 million in spending to New The Albuquerque City Council approveda $100 million industrial revenue bond deal for the compang in February. BE&K Corp. from North Carolina landedr the design/build contract to build the but Bone said 80 percenft ofthe firm’s spending and employeesd will be local. The precast panelw being used in the construction are manufacturedrin Belen. General Mills has been in Albuquerquesincs 1991. Its current facilitt is located near Paseo del Nortee and Edith and has190 employees, with an annuall payroll of $12 million, said Bone. The 275,000-square-foor plant produces about 135 million poundzs annually of 35different cereals.
The facility also has a lab on-site where the instructions for baking General Mills products at high altitudeware created. The companhy has given about $5 million to area nonprofitsx since 1998and $519,0000 in scholarships, Bone added. Don Power, chairman of AED, said the cereao company’s donations illustrate one of the things the organization looks for inrecruiting companies: community involvement. Hudgins said Solart Array plans to break ground by the thirr quarter of this year ona 225,000-square-foort thin-film photovoltaic manufacturing plant in the Corder Mesa business park, west of the mattresa factory.
The company plans to add three more buildings of that size as it he said, with each facility employing about 225. Its annualp payroll in the firsy phase wouldbe $14 million. About five percengt of the jobs would pay 45 percent wouldpay $70,000 and half of the jobs woulcd pay $45,000. The capitalk investment for the first phase willbe $170 millioh and the company would spenc $40 million annually for raw materials. The firsft phase is expected to have a capacity of 75 but that would grow to 300 mw with the full The plant also will have a spacew that will serve as a community and educational Solar Array isseeking $175 million in industriao revenue bonds from Bernalillo County.
The compant is working to raise $210 million in debt and Hudgins said. Hudgins said New Mexico beat out two other statezs forthe plant, despite the fact that it did not offerr the largest incentives. But the coordinationn among local and state governmen t officials and other parties made New Mexicl far more efficient in establishing a planningh framework that the company could then use to plan a budgetf forthe plant, he said “That was a major issuer for us,” Hudgins said. He also praises the labor force here and theeducationaol institutions. The facility is being designed byPageSoutherlandPage LLP, whichy has Texas offices in Dallas and Houston, as well as Washington, D.C.
and London, U.K. Hoffman based in Portland, Ore., is buildinf the facility.