Article published February 18, 2009 Sen. Brown spotlights Toledo solar firm Says he wants Xunlight to share in stimulus funds
Xunlight worker Mark McGivery, left, greets U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Democrat whose vote put the stimulus plan over the top. Mr. Brown visited the West Toledo firm Tuesday.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) Tuesday made West Toledo’s Xunlight Corp. the backdrop for his first Ohio appearance since casting the decisive 60th vote for President Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus bill last week.
Why Xunlight? Because $50 billion dollars of Mr. Obama’s bill has been dedicated to the energy sector.
Mr. Brown wants the start-up Nebraska Avenue solar-panel manufacturer to get a piece of that pie to generate more sorely needed jobs in one of the most economically devastated regions of the country.
Xunlight nearly has tripled its work force in the past year and is eager to keep expanding, said Xunming Deng, the company’s founder, chairman, and chief executive officer.
Mr. Deng did not commit himself to a dollar figure when asked how large a loan he would seek.
Sherrod Brown and Xunlight CEO Xunming Deng
But Mr. Brown said Xunlight fits the bill as a company almost certain to qualify for stimulus-package loans: one that is “shovel-ready,” committed to renewable energy, and attractive to investors.
Mr. Obama’s investment in renewable energy offers “glimmers of hope” for the region’s sluggish economy, even though job gains in that sector cannot possibly make up for all of the automotive industry’s job losses, Mr. Brown said.
“And a big flame of hope is right here,” he said, referring to both Xunlight and the area’s other major solar-panel manufacturer, Phoenix-based First Solar Inc. The latter has its only U.S. production facility in Perrysburg Township.
Mr. Brown’s 88-year-old mother, Emily Campbell Brown, died of leukemia on Feb. 2.
His vote on the stimulus package was so important to Democrats that he left her memorial viewing in Mansfield prematurely so that he could board a government aircraft provided by the White House and cast his vote back in Washington.
He returned to Mansfield on Saturday to rejoin his family for his mother’s funeral.
His action made Mr. Obama’s jobs bill a lock in the Senate, where it was approved 60-38, with support from three GOP moderates.
The White House, fearing the legislation was in jeopardy because of partisan politics, needed all 60 votes to avoid a Republican filibuster.
The House approved the bill earlier Friday by a 246-183 vote, with every Republican opposing the package.
The bill, signed into law by Mr. Obama yesterday, includes a combination of tax cuts and an unprecedented level of domestic aid for the private sector, as well as money for highways, sewage, and other infrastructure.
Mr. Obama had said the country’s economy was headed for disaster if his recovery plan wasn’t approved.
“The whole objective of this was to move quickly,” Mr. Brown told about 50 Xunlight employees who attended his morning presentation in a conference room. “It would have gotten a lot worse if we hadn’t done anything.”
He said it’s an about-face from the Bush administration’s efforts to revive the economy through tax breaks and incentives for the wealthy.
“This is a 180-degree different direction and I think it’s the right direction,” Mr. Brown said.
He said Ohio is poised to become the “Silicon Valley of advanced energy manufacturing, with solar companies in northwest Ohio leading the way.”
Contact Tom Henry at:thenry@theblade.comor 419-724-6079. Permanent Link
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