Companies are also producing the heavy equipment needed to harness wind power in the region, attracted by the combination of strong manufacturing and engineering skill sets, vast swaths of available land, and cost- effective transportation options. One growing company,

Tower Tech finds Manitowoc, on Wisconsin's Lake Michigan shoreline, the ideal place to ship in heavy materials and ship out heavyweight wind turbine towers by water.

Tower Tech, says it has found a home on a 46- acre (18.6- hectare) peninsula in Lake Michigan due, in large measure to the convenience of the transportation routes provided by the Manitowoc, Wis., Great Lakes port and the St. Lawrence Seaway System. The wind turbine tower manufacturer is embarking on an ambitious expansion plan to meet growing demand, says company CEO Sam Fairchild. Already, an expansion and efficiency upgrade has doubled production capacity to 100 towers annually. Ultimately, the company plans to build out to the maximum – 700,000 sq. ft. (65,030 sq. m.) – an investment that would expand production to 500 towers per year.
   The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System is the company's Interstate. And transport is a topic familiar to Fairchild, who has served as a senior transportation advisor to the George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan administrations as well as an advisor to Southwest Airlines.
   "Our geographic location is critically important to our goal of being the low cost provider. We are on Lake Michigan so we can ship finished product by barge, and we can source steel by water, which enhances access to full world markets," Fairchild says. Lower cost barge transport allows the company to source for the most competitive supply anywhere in the world.
   "Our entire corporate mantra is becoming a low- cost provider," says Fairchild. As for the shipping out, "our plant is 350 miles [563 km.] or less away from 70 percent of the wind farm sites in North America, many of which are accessible by water."
   Tower Tech's low- cost approach influences everything, from the absence of fancy business cards to the presence of used equipment on relatively affordable grounds. In terms of the depreciation and amortization of the plant, though he does not mention numbers, Fairchild says, "We have a tremendous advantage over others, because our founders secured the plant at favorable rates – these 700,000 square feet [65,030 sq. m.] would cost many times our cost to replicate elsewhere. It's an enormous strategic advantage when you have someone building a much smaller facility in the southeast [U.S.] for $30 million, a much higher cost."
   Tower Tech demonstrates caution in its purchasing – "We'll buy a machine in excellent condition for a third of the price of a new one," says Fairchild. "We're not impressed by nice shiny new machines to take people on tours of, but by nice shiny new towers." The frugal and common- sense approach derives in part from the cultural background of the region itself, he says.
   "The people of Manitowoc don't like to waste money – it bothers them," he says. "It's a cultural thing, it makes them feel bad. When it comes to a site like this, that makes a huge amount of difference. They're highly productive, and because they're so productive, our cost per tower on the labor side will be much smaller than many of our competitors. So you end up with a much higher- quality weld. They actually care about the result. This is a very important element. Another company in the area – Manitowoc Crane Co. – also enjoys that productivity."
   Manitowoc Crane indeed is expanding as well, because of an enormous upsurge in demand from China, close to 30 percent over last year. According to Fairchild, Manitowoc Crane also transports goods via barge, which allows the firm's technologically advanced, heavy construction equipment to compete on price, regardless of delivery distance. "I can see Wisconsin becoming the epicenter of the alternative energy equipment industry, because of the considerable transportation advantages in moving heavy metal on barges," he says.
   Indeed, operators of the St. Lawrence Seaway System have taken bold steps to enhance the system's competitive advantages in logistics. Already, traffic and tonnage volumes are up by 15 percent over last year, largely on the strength of steel imports. Recently, the Canadian and U.S. Seaway Corporation inked agreements with a German deepwater port group and the Shanghai Port Management Bureau to facilitate expansion of break- bulk capacity, and additional port and container terminal facilities along the seaway system.