Major investment could mean 40 more jobs for Bellingham waterfront manufacturer
A solar panel company is making a multi-million dollar investment in its Bellingham operations that could mean an additional 20-40 jobs.
The Washington State Department of Commerce announced in a news release that it was awarding Silfab Solar a $250,000 economic development grant to assist in adding new manufacturing equipment this year. The total investment with the grant and from the company will total at least $4 million.
The new equipment will mean additional workers at a Bellingham facility that already employs 189 people, 45 of whom are part-time, said Geoff Atkins, executive advisor for Silfab. He said the investment will focus on equipment and no physical changes are planned for the 48,000-square-foot facility at 800 Cornwall Ave.
Silfab acquired the Bellingham operations from Itek Energy in 2018. Production of the solar panels has grown consistently each quarter, doubling capacity in the past year. The solar panels are sold for residential projects across the U.S, Atkins said in an email.
While the company sells across the U.S., Atkins said it has a strong presence in the Midwest, Florida, California, Washington and Oregon.
“Our strong partner network across the U.S. has a strong appetite for domestically designed and manufactured solar modules,” Atkins said.
The investment is a way to continue improving product innovation in the U.S., said Paolo Maccario, CEO of Silfab, in the news release.
This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 12:50 PM.
