Solar company looking to build Pueblo (CO) plant

[jpak]

http://www.chieftain.com/business/1165302354/4

A local nonprofit organization, Smart Growth Advocates, has secured a "letter of intent" from a New York solar energy company seeking to locate its headquarters and manufacturing plant in Pueblo.

Prism Solar Technologies, which could employ up to 300 workers, says it would use the proposed $15 million plant to make solar modules that produce electricity. Unlike traditional photovoltaic panels, Prism Solar would use patented holographic technology, which requires less silicon and operates more efficiently.

The next step in the process is for Prism to negotiate with Pueblo city officials for financial incentives to build the facility, said Vickie Massam, president of Smart Growth Advocates, a Pueblo nonprofit group that marketed the city to the company.

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Massam said the average wage for workers at the plant would be $22 an hour. An estimated 120 employees would be hired within the first two or three years of the facility's operation and possibly grow to 300 workers by the fifth year.

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