2 companies considering empty Fountain building

Two renewable energy companies are eyeing the former Sanmina-SCI Corp. plant in Fountain for manufacturing operations, local economic development officials said Monday.

The interest in the 250,000-squarefoot former electronics manufacturing plant is an early dividend from a new strategy to attract such firms to the Colorado Springs area, said Mike Kazmierski, president of the Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp.

“We expect to have somebody make an offer on the building within the next six months,” Kazmierski said after a media briefing at the Antlers Hilton hotel. He declined to identify the companies but said both are involved in the renewable energy industry.

Sanmina-SCI closed the 22-yearold plant at 702 Bandley Drive in December and laid off 319 workers as it shifts more manufacturing work to India.

EDC began trying to recruit renewable energy firms to the Springs area in mid-2007, Kazmierski said, after Gov. Bill Ritter made fostering “a new energy economy,” based on expanding the renewable energy industry, a key part of his economic development strategy.

Ritter signed several laws last year that promote renewable energy. He created a $1 million fund in January to give matching grants to cities, municipalities and utilities that give rebates to residents who equip their homes with solar power.

“We realized it was an opportunity for us, especially with many of the fabs (semiconductor manufacturing plants) being converted for photovoltaic (solar cell) work,” Kazmierski said. “We made site-selection consultants aware of our interest the middle of last year.”

The two companies are among 10 renewable energy firms that have indicated interest in relocating to or expanding in the Springs, Kazmierski said.

The interest comes as firms in other industries are putting expansion and relocation plans on hold amid a slowing U.S. economy, Kazmierski said.

Economic development groups from Oregon to Ohio have been pursuing renewable energy as an alternative use for plants that once made computer chips and even car windshields. The Springs could be an attractive location for the industry, with two vacant chip plants, Kazmierski said.

In December, Intel Corp. halted production at its 1.4 million-square-foot plant on Garden of the Gods Road that once employed more than 1,000. Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. shut down a smaller nearby plant in 2003. Intel will shutter its plant by midyear.

In addition to solar power, the renewable energy industry includes wind, biofuels and geothermal energy.

Bob Cutter, chairman of EDC’s Council for Local Industry, said this is the perfect time for the Springs to get into renewable energy. He said the industry is likely to focus manufacturing in hub cities, and it’s not too late for Colorado Springs to be one of them.

“You want to catch the wave when it’s going up,” Cutter said. “You don’t necessarily want to be one of the pioneers, but you want to be there as it’s reaching its crest.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0234 or wayneh@gazette.com. Andrew Wineke contributed to this story.