Bay City economic development organization plans to continue worldwide recruiting efforts

By Michael Wayland | The Bay City Times
January 25, 2010, 9:40AM

A partnership of economic development organizations in the Great Lakes Bay Region will continue to span the globe this year in hopes of expanding business investments in the area.

The Great Lakes Bay Economic Development Partnership, made up of Bay Future Inc., Midland Tomorrow and Saginaw Future Inc., plans to travel to Spain and possibly other destinations this year to recruit companies — particularly those involved in alternative energy.

“Alternative energy and green energy and green jobs is a very lucrative industry right now and we want Bay County and the region to get as many of those opportunities that we can,” said Fred Hollister, president and CEO of Bay Future. “We’re ready to work with anybody ... but that’s a very important industry right now.”

Hollister said the regional partnership will have representatives at the fifth World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion and at the 25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, both taking place simultaneously in September in Spain; and possibly have representatives at conferences or trade shows involving alternative energy in California and Asia.

Hollister said attending the conferences is a cost-effective way to meet different global organizations and investors at the same time.

In 2009, Hollister and other representatives from the Great Lakes Bay Economic Development Partnership attended five alternative-energy conferences or trade shows in Las Vegas; Buffalo, N.Y.; Anaheim, Calif.; San Francisco and Hamburg, Germany.

Hollister said the Hamburg show was attended by more than 4,000 registered delegates from 73 companies. The Great Lakes Bay group hosted a breakfast meeting in Germany with about 50 company representatives to promote the region as a place to set up solar companies.

“(Traveling and the partnership) has enabled us to make relationships with solar companies around the world,” said JoAnn T. Crary, president of Saginaw Future. “We expect to see more success in the next year.”

The Great Lakes Bay Region has lured more than $3 billion in solar-business investments in the past five years. Last year alone, the region saw Bay County-based Dow Corning Corp. announce it will spend several hundred million dollars and initially create 30 jobs at a new solar energy-related manufacturing plant in Saginaw County; Norcross, Ga.-based Suniva Inc., a maker of high-efficiency, low-cost solar panels, announce plans to open a manufacturing facility in Saginaw County, and San Jose, Calif.-based GlobalWatt announce it will locate its 500-job, $177 million solar module production plant in Saginaw.

Hollister said the partnership and worldwide recruitment is proving effective. He hopes for business investment locally and internationally to continue to grow in the Great Lakes Bay Region in 2010.

“We’re going to continue working for those type of opportunities — to participate with existing organizations that have a track record in the industry — to look for new investments from the region and also look for opportunities to do business outside the region,” Hollister said.