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Argentine company breaks ground in Sweetwater |
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Written by Brian McCormack
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Wednesday, 10 June 2009 |
One of the major engines of the Sweetwater/Nolan County economy is wind energy. On Tuesday, president and owner of EMA Electromechanical, Eduardo Montich, as well as members of the Sweetwater Enterprise for Economic Development (SEED) board, ceremonially broke ground at the location of EMA's future Sweetwater branch.
EMA, which is based out of Buenos Aires, Argentina, specializes in the designing and manufacturing of electromechanical equipment for use in the energy business. Specifically designed for use in the field of wind energy production, Montich, explains, are the high-speed grounding switches and medium voltage circuit breakers. Invented by EMA, the products are an upgrade from the parts that are currently used by most wind companies. "We created a product for the wind industry," he said. "It (the high-speed grounding switches) grounds the system faster than the traditional solution. We can offer a better component for half of the money. We created it for the American market."
Montich hopes that by locating a plant in Sweetwater, it will give EMA direct access to the growing industry. "A couple of things brought us here," he said. "Nolan County is the center of wind activity. For us, we need to be close to our customers." Also high on Montich's list of positives, is the help from the city and the SEED, who first made contact with Montich at the 2007 American Wind Energy Association Conference. "The other thing," he continues, "Is the SEED organization. The city has helped us with loans to build our factory."
Executive director for SEED, Ken Becker, said that EMA was given a loan for $800,000 to help offset the costly endeavor of building a manufacturing plant here in Texas. Like most companies that SEED does business with, EMA will provide well-paying jobs within the community once it is operational.
Montich believes he will be employing at least 13 full-time workers when the plant goes live, and hopes to grow the company from there. "We will employ 13 at the start," he said. "But as long as the market keeps growing, we expect to employ more people. In Argentina, we have 200 workers."
A proponent of renewable energy, Montich feels that Sweetwater is poised to further its reputation as a model for clean power. "We need to push for a new Renewable Energy Standard," he said. "This will create many jobs in the area, and we will have plenty of groundbreakings. In this part of the country, we need to push renewables, you can create millions of jobs."
Montich's enthusiasm about EMA's future is shared by SEED board president and CEO of The Roscoe State Bank, John Jay, "Over the past five months I have had the privilege of spending a significant amount of time with Eduardo, his key executives, and his family both from his numerous trips here as well as the trip Ken (Becker) and I made to Buenos Aires to tour his plant facilities," he said. "I am most impressed with him and everyone I have come in contact with and the business success EMA has enjoyed over the years."
According to Becker, the bidding process is underway, and construction of EMA's new facility at the industrial park owned by SEED should begin sometime this year. Dates are still tentative but officials are hopeful that the plant will be built by March of 2010. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 12 June 2009 )
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