From an article by Nathaniel Shuda in the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune:
A Wisconsin Rapids-based manufacturer recently revised its plan for a wind-turbine blade manufacturing plant, making it a three-phase project, instead of a one-phase project, the company’s top executive said.
At one time, Energy Composites officials hoped to break ground on a 535,000-square-foot facility about a year ago, but a difficult bond market led to project downsizing, President Jamie Mancl said.
“Now we’re talking about … a smaller portion of that plan to get the shovel in the ground and started with something,” Mancl said Tuesday evening during a presentation to the Wisconsin Rapids Common Council. “We’re taking a more prudent approach to get this thing off the ground.”
The company, which includes the former Advanced Fiberglass Technologies, already retained Stern Brothers & Co., a private financing firm, to help secure $25 million from investors for the first phase, Mancl said.
“With the financing issues we’re experiencing in the country, it’s hard to put a timeline on it, but … within six months or less, they’re hopeful they’ll be able to secure (investors),” he said, declining to say how much money the company has raised.