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Hundreds of new jobs are coming to Newton, as Gov. Sam Brownback announced Friday New Millennium Wind Energy will locate a manufacturing facility at the Kansas Logistics Park.
“We will ramp up in three phases,” said company founder and CEO Drew Thacker in a meeting with The Newton Kansan Friday.
The first phase of construction is expected to begin immediately, a 55,000-square-foot facility Thacker said should employ 50 to 100 employees by June of 2012. The projected cost of the facility is between $50 million and $100 million.
Groundbreaking for the facility should be within 30 to 60 days, Thacker said.
Over time, the Colorado-based company plans to employ more than 400.
“What a great day for Newton and Kansas,” Brownback said Friday afternoon. “New Millennium represents an innovative company making exciting products in an expanding industry for the state. Kansas is beautifully positioned to create new, good-paying jobs through alternative energy. This is more proof that Kansas can compete and win in the global marketplace.”
The facility will build wind turbines, though not turbines already familiar to the Kansas landscape. These turbines will be designed to sit atop buildings.
“We will focus on the 20 and 60 kilowatt systems here,” Thacker said. “We will build millions of units out of this facility.”
Phase two will add another 115,000 square feet to the facility, for the making of composites, and increase the employee base to about 300.
Thacker said phase III of the project is to build a 30,000-square-foot facility for resin pouring, pushing the local workforce up to about 460 people. According to the Harvey County Economic Development Council, those jobs will pay and average between $40,000 and $50,000 annually.
“This is a big investment in Newton and technology,” Thacker said.
Dorothy and Toto
New Millennium Wind Energy will bring with them familiar faces — Dorothy and Toto — when they open a new manufacturing facility at the Kansas Logistics Park.
Dorothy and Toto will be roof-top wind generators, what New Millennium calls a “Turbonator,” located at New Millennium Wind Energy Emerald City.
The turbines will be made from carbon-base composites, the same materials now in use in the production of commercial aircraft.
It is new technology, a different kind of turbine.
The turbines range from 28 by 20 feet to 35 by 28 feet in size.
“These feed electricity directly to the building,” said Drew Thacker, founder and CEO of New Millennium Wind Energy LLC.
The turbines will be available in 20, 60, 120, 200, 500 and 700 kilowatt sizes. They are installed between a buildings electric meter and the transformer.
“The unmet market need was to provide power at the point of use,” Thacker said. “Rather than lose power due to transmission lines and wind fluctuations.”
Each turbine is outfitted with solar energy panes to provide energy to “shroud drives” and uses an unequal number of airfoils with counter rotation to eliminate noise and vibration.
The Newton production facility will focus on the 20 and 60 kilowatt version of the turbines.
Thacker said he believes worldwide demand will be the largest for those unit sizes.
“These systems can provide significant power to data centers, skyscrapers and big box retail stores but also to the most remote villages and locations to assure all people have energy for irrigation, clean water, sewage treatment, lighting and the ability to access remote learning opportunities at an affordable cost.”
New Millennium Wind Energy was founded in Colorado in 2009 to develop and manufacture the newly designed turbine, called the Next Generation Wind Turbine.
Why Newton?
Newton was selected for two main reasons: workforce and location.
“My No. 1 criteria was access to a skilled workforce in the aviation industry,” Thacker said.
The proximity of Wichita State and the National Institute for Aviation Research was considered as well.
Having a strong infrastructure with Interstate 135, U.S. Highway 50 and the Kansas Logistics Park were key in site selection, as well.
“You have a natural logistics center,” Thacker said. “You are in the center of the nation.”
Hundreds of new jobs are coming to Newton, as Gov. Sam Brownback announced Friday New Millennium Wind Energy will locate a manufacturing facility at the Kansas Logistics Park.
“We will ramp up in three phases,” said company founder and CEO Drew Thacker in a meeting with The Newton Kansan Friday.
The first phase of construction is expected to begin immediately, a 55,000-square-foot facility Thacker said should employ 50 to 100 employees by June of 2012. The projected cost of the facility is between $50 million and $100 million.
Groundbreaking for the facility should be within 30 to 60 days, Thacker said.
Over time, the Colorado-based company plans to employ more than 400.
“What a great day for Newton and Kansas,” Brownback said Friday afternoon. “New Millennium represents an innovative company making exciting products in an expanding industry for the state. Kansas is beautifully positioned to create new, good-paying jobs through alternative energy. This is more proof that Kansas can compete and win in the global marketplace.”
The facility will build wind turbines, though not turbines already familiar to the Kansas landscape. These turbines will be designed to sit atop buildings.
“We will focus on the 20 and 60 kilowatt systems here,” Thacker said. “We will build millions of units out of this facility.”
Phase two will add another 115,000 square feet to the facility, for the making of composites, and increase the employee base to about 300.
Thacker said phase III of the project is to build a 30,000-square-foot facility for resin pouring, pushing the local workforce up to about 460 people. According to the Harvey County Economic Development Council, those jobs will pay and average between $40,000 and $50,000 annually.
“This is a big investment in Newton and technology,” Thacker said.
Dorothy and Toto
New Millennium Wind Energy will bring with them familiar faces — Dorothy and Toto — when they open a new manufacturing facility at the Kansas Logistics Park.
Dorothy and Toto will be roof-top wind generators, what New Millennium calls a “Turbonator,” located at New Millennium Wind Energy Emerald City.
The turbines will be made from carbon-base composites, the same materials now in use in the production of commercial aircraft.
It is new technology, a different kind of turbine.
The turbines range from 28 by 20 feet to 35 by 28 feet in size.
“These feed electricity directly to the building,” said Drew Thacker, founder and CEO of New Millennium Wind Energy LLC.
The turbines will be available in 20, 60, 120, 200, 500 and 700 kilowatt sizes. They are installed between a buildings electric meter and the transformer.
“The unmet market need was to provide power at the point of use,” Thacker said. “Rather than lose power due to transmission lines and wind fluctuations.”
Each turbine is outfitted with solar energy panes to provide energy to “shroud drives” and uses an unequal number of airfoils with counter rotation to eliminate noise and vibration.
The Newton production facility will focus on the 20 and 60 kilowatt version of the turbines.
Thacker said he believes worldwide demand will be the largest for those unit sizes.
“These systems can provide significant power to data centers, skyscrapers and big box retail stores but also to the most remote villages and locations to assure all people have energy for irrigation, clean water, sewage treatment, lighting and the ability to access remote learning opportunities at an affordable cost.”
New Millennium Wind Energy was founded in Colorado in 2009 to develop and manufacture the newly designed turbine, called the Next Generation Wind Turbine.
Why Newton?
Newton was selected for two main reasons: workforce and location.
“My No. 1 criteria was access to a skilled workforce in the aviation industry,” Thacker said.
The proximity of Wichita State and the National Institute for Aviation Research was considered as well.
Having a strong infrastructure with Interstate 135, U.S. Highway 50 and the Kansas Logistics Park were key in site selection, as well.
“You have a natural logistics center,” Thacker said. “You are in the center of the nation.”
