Wind Blade Facility Slated for South Dakota
Knight & Carver Blade Division to Repair & Manufacture Blades
HOWARD, South Dakota – With economic incentives provided by the State of South Dakota and Miner County Community Revitalization (MCCR), Knight & Carver Wind Blade Division is pleased to announce that it has reached agreement to lease and operate a 26,000 square foot wind blade repair and manufacturing facility in Howard, South Dakota.
Under terms of a five-year lease, MCCR will build the facility to suit Knight & Carver’s specifications and needs.
Ground-breaking for the facility, part of Howard Industrial Park, is expected by mid-July. The building’s site has been cleared and leveled, with construction scheduled to begin within a month or so. Full-scale blade production is scheduled to begin in November.
Announcement of the contract was jointly made by Gary Kanaby, Division Manager of Knight & Carver Wind Blade Division; MCCR Executive Director Randy Parry; MCCR Economic/Housing Director Mike Knutson; and the South Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development.
Howard, a rural community of around 1,000 residents, is located in the state’s southeast corner, about 65 miles from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Working closely with state officials, Howard’s community leaders have been aggressively seeking to attract out-of-state business to the region, to create jobs that provide an economic boost to the local economy. The new wind blade facility is expected to hire 10-25 full-time employees, and projected to employ 46 people within the first three years.
“This is a significant step forward for our company,” said Kanaby. “It will allow us to provide better service at a lower cost to our current and future customers. We are very grateful to the many South Dakota and Miner County officials who have provided such generous incentives. We are indebted to MCCR and truly appreciate all of its hard work and dedication toward getting this project off the ground.”
When completed, Knight & Carver’s 75’ x 220’ main manufacturing bay will be equipped with an overhead crane and will serve as an all-weather production facility. In addition, the building will offer space for the storage and preparation of materials to fabricate blades; a garage to house the company’s service vehicles; and a full-service paint booth, large enough to paint large wind blades. The facility will also be used as Knight & Carver’s Midwest regional repair facility.
South Dakota governor Mike Rounds welcomed Knight & Carver’s move into the state. “Knight & Carver represents a great addition to our business community. It will build on the city of Howard’s efforts to create jobs through wind energy – an industry where South Dakota has great potential,” said Gov. Rounds.
For MCCR, a non-profit economic development agency that represents Miner County’s 2,800 residents, the Knight & Carver project is the latest step in an effort to create jobs through wind energy. A few years ago, MCCR installed two wind turbine generators in Howard Industrial Park, with the goal of attracting wind-energy firms to the region.
Knight & Carver’s facility will be adjacent to Energy Maintenance Services, a wind turbine service company that opened in Howard two years ago.
“The idea that this project has become a reality is very exciting,” said MCCR’s Mike Knutson. “It promises to help us attain our mission of creating quality, living-wage jobs from renewable energy sources that will benefit our citizens for years to come. We see this as a perfect fit for our community.”
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About Knight & Carver:
Located on San Diego Bay with a workforce of 150 employees, the company serves as a facility for the construction and repair of wind-turbine blades, utilized world-wide for cost-efficient energy production. Since its founding in 1972, Knight & Carver has specialized in the building of custom yachts and repair of large-scale vessels. The company’s Wind Blade Division was formed in 1997, utilizing the same methods used in composite boat-building with the manufacture and repair of wind-turbine blades.
Contact:
John Freeman
Director of Communications
Knight & Carver Wind Blade Division
(619) 336-4141, ext. 141
jfreeman@knightandcarver.com
