Knight & Carver Wind Blade Division, a wind blade repair and manufacturing company, will expand its California-based operations into Howard, S.D. The company is expected to employ 10 to 25 full-time employees in 2007, and is projected to employ 46 people within the first three years.
“This is a significant step forward for our company,” said Gary Kanaby, Division Manager of Knight & Carver Wind Blade Division. “We are very grateful to the many South Dakota and Miner County officials who have provided such generous incentives. We’re confident that South Dakota’s work force and business climate will allow us to provide better service at a lower cost to our current and future customers.”
With economic incentives provided by the State of South Dakota, the Miner County Community Revitalization (MCCR) and Heartland Consumer Power District, Knight & Carver Wind Blade will lease and operate a 26,000 square foot wind blade repair and manufacturing facility.
Under terms of a five-year lease, Knight and Carver will have an opportunity to purchase the facility and expand. Groundbreaking is expected by mid-July, with full-scale blade production scheduled to begin in November.
When completed, Knight & Carver’s 75’ x 220’ main manufacturing bay will be equipped with an overhead crane and will serve as an all-weather production facility. In addition, the building will offer space for the storage and preparation of materials to fabricate blades; a garage to house the company’s service vehicles; and a full-service paint booth, large enough to paint wind blades. The facility will also be used as Knight & Carver’s Midwest regional repair facility.
The Knight & Carver project is the latest step in Howard’s effort to create jobs through wind energy. A few years ago, two wind turbine generators were installed in the Howard Industrial Park with the goal of attracting wind-energy firms to the region. Howard has a renewable energy park dedicated to developing the area’s wind-energy potential, and local leaders are excited to welcome another business to the area’s emerging wind energy business cluster.
Headquartered in San Diego Bay with a workforce of 150 employees, Knight & Carver specializes in the construction and repair of wind-turbine blades, utilized world-wide for cost-efficient energy production. Since its founding in 1972, Knight & Carver has specialized in the building of custom yachts and repair of large-scale vessels. The company’s Wind Blade Division was formed in 1997, utilizing the same methods used in composite boat-building with the manufacture and repair of wind-turbine blades.
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