Alternative Energy and Sustainability: Powering West Michigan’s Economy

World class manufacturing, R&D centers, innovation networks, and leading alternative energy companies await in West Michigan, where green is the new gold and alternative is anything but. West Michigan’s alternative energy industry has the potential to generate more than $1.2 billion and 4,330 jobs for our economy by 2013.

Building an Alternative Energy Future

Greater Grand Rapids’ manufacturing excellence gives it a distinct advantage in the emerging alternative energy market. With expertise in precision plastics and metals, one-third of the region’s manufacturers – nearly 800 companies – are available to produce components for alternative and renewable energy technologies.   In fact, several sustainable and alternative energy companies are already growing in West Michigan, they include:

• United Solar Ovonic – a market leader in Thin-Film Photovoltaics
• Cascade Engineering – its Renewable Energy Solutions division designs and produces renewable energy systems, including the Swift Wind Turbine, the first silent rooftop turbine. The company is also a leader in the design and manufacture of renewable plastic components.
• Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. – the world’s leading provider of hyper-pure, polycrystalline silicon and silicon-based products used in semiconductor devices, passive solar cells and modules.
  

Other advantages? West Michigan offers a highly trained workforce, recognized leadership in design and engineering as well as established leadership in precision plastics and metal forming. The region also provides close proximity to energy markets via an extensive transportation network capable of accommodating oversize components.

Supporting Innovative Growth

A Renewable Energy Standard is just the latest development in support of West Michigan’s growing alternative energy industry. The region offers a premier support network for any company developing alternative energy technologies. Power your innovation with support from:

• The Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC) – a fully integrated demonstration facility for alternative energy technology R&D
• The Western Michigan University Alternative and Renewable Energy Laboratories – research laboratories for energy use, conservation and technology development
• The Michigan State University BioEconomy Institute (January 2009) – Michigan State will use the facility to lead research and development of biofuels, biochemicals and biomaterial
• Next Energy -- a statewide organization founded to support the commercialization of energy technologies
• Michigan Technological University's Advanced Power Systems Research Center – a multidisciplinary organization that fosters collaborative research of alternative energy technologies

Incentives and Partners

Michigan is one of the country’s leading states for alternative energy development, and provides a number of incentive and assistance programs for alternative energy firms. They include:

• Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE) for Michigan
• SmartZones and Business Accelerators to stimulate the growth of technology-based businesses and jobs by creating recognized clusters of technology enterprises and research institutions throughout the state.
• The U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Research, Development and Engineering Command (TARDEC) and its National Automotive Center (NAC) support research on alternative energy technologies for Department of Defense and commercial applications.
• The Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center (sbTdc) provides services to assist technology companies, including those in the areas of IP protection, financing, planning and commercialization strategies.