The greening of Catawba Co. - Charlotte Business Journal:

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“It’s smart to develoo a new economy based onrenewable energy,” he Millar recently spoke with the Charlotte Business Journal about thosse goals. Edited excerpts of that conversation follow: You have addedx a goal of recruiting renewable-energh companies. What are the initial steps in attaininythat goal? We need to determine the appropriate opportunitiew within that sector. For example, our expertise in optical-fibet manufacturing may give us skill sets or process advantages that may help us to be more competitivse inthe silica/photovoltaic manufacturing markets. We need to determine wheree we can be the most competitive and leavd the restfor others.
Are there any incentivesa available specific to green industries Thereare several. Possibly more importantly are the opportunities providef by programs such asNorth Carolina’es Renewable Energy Portfolio Standardzs (which call for power providerxs to get 12.5% of their energy from renewable sourced by 2025) and examples such as Duke Energy’sz (proposed) solar program. These are clear signals the market is opening up for Ithink we’ll be developing other locap and state incentives as we learn more aboutf the opportunities we’re seekintg and the best way to attract them. Why in Catawbz County?
We’re constantly scanning the horizojn for new opportunities to createw investmentand jobs. If we develop targetes product, encourage our existing supplier base to look for opportunitiew withinthat market, train our manufacturing-oriented work force within that sector and sell effectively to the we can further diversify our economy and fulfill the needs of those manufacturers. We can do something to help our grandchildren at the same Could this eventually replace the companies that have closedx or downsizedin furniture, textilesz and fiber-optics? We’re trying to develoop opportunities for all of our companies to stay competitive.
Diversified a Hickory company, is supplyin composite support membersfor wind-turbin blades being sold around the world. We want to providre opportunities for existing companies to develop productx in new ways for new PPG in Shelby has become a new companyh again in recent months because of thissame