LANSING- State Senator Mark Schauer (D-Battle Creek) joined local and company officials in announcing that the Michigan Economic Development Corporation granted a Michigan-based company incentives to expand their business at a meeting in Lansing this morning. Schauer has been working closely with the company and state officials in an effort to secure incentives that will help them invest here and create jobs locally, instead of choosing a site in New York. Our strong commitment to renewable energy will help create more jobs like this, save consumers money on their energy bills, and better manage Michigans resources, said Schauer. We must continue to aggressively pursue this type of investment so that we can put our people back to work and turn this economy around. United Solar Ovonic LLC now plans to build a new solar panel manufacturing facility in Battle Creek, rather than a competing site in New York, creating 700 new jobs in Calhoun County. United Solar Ovonic is a world leader in building rooftop photovoltaics, one of the fastest growing segments of the solar power industry. Founded in 1990, United Solar Ovonic is headquartered in Michigan and currently has 870 full-time employees at facilities in Michigan # # # |