Wind Farms Revitalizing Midwest Manufacturing Towns—But Not Immune From Economy

Wind Farms Revitalizing Midwest Manufacturing Towns

Wind Farms Have Revitalized Manufacturing Towns But Not Immune From Economy

By MARK CLAYTON

Feb. 7, 2009—

Hundreds of workers lost their jobs after the Rockwell-Goss printing press factory closed here in Cedar Rapids in 2001. The hulking empty shell sat idle on the outskirts of the city for four years.

But that was before wind power blew into town, bringing thousands of clean-tech manufacturing jobs to Iowa and the Midwest.

In many cases, the new industry is setting up shop in defunct heavy manufacturing plants, bringing new economic life and vitality to old settings.

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Before the nation's financial crisis hit, wind manufacturing was on a roll. Riding a wave of wind-farm development, some 55 new or expanded facilities popped up nationwide just last year -- from blade manufacturers to bearing makers -- in what some describe as a new north-south wind manufacturing corridor running roughly from Minnesota to Texas.

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