First Solar tax breaks OK d

BOWLING GREEN Wood County commissioners approved 15-year, 100 percent property tax abatements yesterday for First Solar Inc. s Perrysburg Township complex, where two projects costing an estimated $136.5 million are planned.

Tempe, Ariz.-based First Solar, which produces solar panels and is considered a world leader in low-cost, thin-film technologies, plans to add 278,000 square feet of manufacturing space and 62,000 square feet of office space to its south plant at Cedar Business Center, said Wade Gottschalk, associate director of the Wood County Economic Development Commission. The addition would create about 90 jobs and retain about 100.

The company also plans to build a 178,000-square-foot research and technology center north of its north plant that would create 44 jobs, he said.

We think it s another great project, Mr. Gottschalk said.

Commissioners were excited about the expansion of a business focused on an alternative energy source.

This is certainly great news for Wood County, Commissioner Jim Carter said. Anytime you can create new jobs and keep your old jobs, it s got to be good for the economy, and one of the best ways we can stave off the foreclosure problems and increase the economy in Wood County is something we re all after.

As part of the agreement with the county, First Solar will reimburse Rossford schools and Penta Career Center a still-undetermined amount.

Perrysburg Township trustees approved the agreement with First Solar on Monday.