The headquarters of Enercon GmbH, a manufacturer of blades for giant wind mills (background), is shaped like its corporate logo. The nearby manufacturing complex employs about 3,000.

   So how long will such an arrangement be in place in Saxany- Anhalt and the rest of eastern Germany? Not long.
   "As they say in the pubs, it's last call in east Germany," says Friebe. "It's very likely that the state grants will run out by 2010."
   The current scheme will be in place through 2009, after which another downgrade in investment aid will likely take effect, perhaps by 5 or 10 percent – or even elimination of such aid. "The more successful east Germany is in revamping, the less money it will get from Brussels in the future. It will become a victim of its own success, you could say."
   The larger the EU grows – Romania and Bulgaria just joined – the more markets there will be to invest in with similar aid. "If one is looking to set up a large company or investment here, now is the time to do so," says Friebe. "Two years is a good time frame for a project to come to fruition. It can be done quicker, say 18 months, but the rules are strict, and you have to manage the process that much quicker."
   Friebe says investors also should consider another advantage of locating in eastern Germany.
   "It unifies the advantages of two worlds: the 'Old Europe' and the 'New Europe.' We have the political stability and the proven, legal systems working on a federal level," he says. "And on the other hand, we have more flexibility in terms of work shifts as well as lower wages. A three- shift schedule would not work in western Germany, but it's absolutely normal in the former GDR."    Normally, wind is a good thing in the windmill- production business. Look in almost any direction in and around Magdeburg, and certainly in the surrounding countryside, and scores of enormous three- bladed windmills can be seen spinning in the breeze, contributing energy to the national power grid. But one day in mid- January 2007, there was too much of a good thing. A potent storm was forecast for the night of January 18th in northern Europe, with wind gusts expected to run in the vicinity of 200 km. per hour (125 mph). That would certainly get those windmill blades spinning.
   But it was the blades on the ground at their manufacturer near the Port of Magdeburg that were the problem. How to secure an inventory of hundreds of turbine blades – some as long as 39.5 meters (129 ft.) – exposed to the approaching elements as they awaited shipment to customers elsewhere? Such was the predicament of management at Enercon GmbH, a leading manufacturer of wind energy plants, employing 3,100 at a site adjacent to the Port of Magdeburg. Nevertheless, Volker Ziem, general manager of the site, took time to speak with a U.S. visitor that morning to discuss the site's strategic advantage as a supplier of large- scale renewable energy systems. (The blades were repositioned that day to minimize the gusts' impact on them, and the storm spared the facility and its assets.)
   "The area was a major heavy manufacturing center prior to 1990, which meant there were many large buildings suitable for producing long and heavy material, such as what we produce," says Ziem.

This editorial profile of investment opportunities in Magdeburg- Sülzetal was prepared by the staff of Conway Data Inc., Norcross, Ga., under the auspices of Magdeburg- Sülzetal, Germany. For more information, contact Dr. Klaus Puchta, Magdeburg Department for Business Development (www.magdeburg.de); tel: 49 391 540- 2666; Sülzetal Mayor Erich Wasserthal (www.gemeinde- suelzetal.de); tel: 49 39205 646- 10; Ms. Anna Wohlthat, KGE Kommunalgrund GmbH (www.your- location.de); tel: 49 391 53290- 28; and Mr. Karl- Heinz Ehrhardt, managing director, Port of Magdeburg (www.magdeburg- hafen.de); tel: 49 391 5939 162. For information on Site Selection editorial profiles, contact Mark Arend, Editor, at mark.arend bounce@conway.com or (770) 325-3438.

"Magdeburg is a better location than those at the coast, because the turbines and blades don't need to be transported as far to customers in inland Europe," he adds. Major markets for the wind systems are Poland and other central and eastern European markets, particularly new members of the EU. Enercon also is producing wind turbines in the Baltic States.
   Besides a skilled labor pool, logistics is the chief advantage of the Magdeburg location, says Ziem. "We have access to the motorways and also to the newly built harbor, where the long and very heavy blades can be transported from here." By year- end, Enercon will begin producing a new generator at the site that will weigh 200 tons.
   The plant is increasing its production of wind turbine systems at a rate of 20 percent to 30 percent per year, notes Ziem, and that will be the case for the next few years. That will give the region's renewable energy industry momentum; a biodiesel refinery at the Port of Magdeburg is undergoing an expansion, and another Enercon facility in Magdeburg is just as busy as Ziem's.
   Industrial growth is on the upswing in Magdeburg and eastern Germany, as the Enercon example illustrates. It will gain momentum as logistics routes and key trade markets shift east via the Elbe and into Poland and other destinations. How long industries can rely on the area remaining low- cost in terms of labor remains to be seen. And the EU subsidies won't be as lucrative in a few short years' time.