Perrysburg solar firm gets visit from state

Officials from the Ohio Department of Development visited Willard & Kelsey Solar Group on Friday to inspect the troubled company and are awaiting a financial report to determine if the Perrysburg company is in compliance with state loan and grant agreements.

The meeting with Willard & Kelsey executives went well and they are working to lower the cost of producing solar panels, said Katie Sabatino, a spokesman for the department.

"They are trying to come up with a more competitive way to price their product so they can live up to the job commitment that they promised," Ms. Sabatino said.

Willard & Kelsey executives didn't share a specific plan to reduce production costs with the department, she said. Ms. Sabatino wrote in an email that officials did a "walk through" of the facility but couldn't say whether the tour included a look at changes to the facility's production line.

In January the company laid off about half of its work force of more than 80.

The work on the production line was cited as the cause of the layoffs by Michael Cicak, the company's chief executive officer and chairman of the board. Mr. Cicak twice hung up the phone on a Blade reporter Wednesday.

Willard & Kelsey has been plagued by a series of delays since it was formed in 2008.

It never has attained the lofty production goals touted by Mr. Cicak, who previously said the company could produce 600 to 700 jobs in the next two years and up to 4,000 in five or six years.

Ms. Sabatino said the company has reached the end of a three-year window to submit its annual report so the state can assess its progress. It is due to the state by March, 1.

Willard & Kelsey was funded by a combination of state loans and grants and private funding.

Funding for its assembly line initially came from a $5 million loan from the state Office of Air Quality Development Authority. The $5 million is part of a $10 million loan that was partially disbursed in July, 2010. The rest of that money is set aside for the construction of a second assembly line.

The company also received a $5 million loan and a $500,000 rapid outreach grant from the Department of Development.

Both loan repayment plans have been altered in recent months because Willard & Kelsey has had trouble paying back the loans. If the company folds, some of its equipment and assets would be acquired by the state to help recoup the cost of the loans and grant.

The state will decide how to proceed with Willard & Kelsey once it has a better grasp of the company's financial situation, Ms. Sabatino said.

"There are some options on our end we are looking to explore but no definitive decisions have been made regarding the loans," she said.

Contact Kris Turner at: kturner@theblade.com or 419-724-6103.