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Schweitzer Welcomes Wind Turbine Company

Montana – Gov. Brian Schweitzer announced that Montana will soon be home to the first North American manufacturing facility for a German wind turbine company. Schweitzer said the new manufacturing plant will bring at least 150 jobs to the Butte area. “Why Montana? Well, because in Montana we are going to build a lot of wind projects. Fuhrländer will be in a position to manufacture the turbines near the location of their installation. It costs a lot of money to manufacture these across the world and then ship them here. This $25 million project will bring jobs and tax base to Butte, and is largely a result of our clean-and-green energy incentives,” Schweitzer said.
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AR – Beebe Welcomes New Jobs. A little bit of Chicago is coming to Jonesboro and that will result in as many as 200 new jobs. Nestle officials announced that they’re getting into pizza production at their Jonesboro plant. The announcement means a 60 million dollar expansion to Nestle’s frozen foods manufacturing facility, which opened just five years ago. Time and time again, Nestle officials pointed to an excellent local workforce as one reason for making their decision and the governor says he’s hearing a lot about Jonesboro while traveling these days. “The reputation is out there in terms of a quality workforce and a good work ethic and a community that is obviously a bright and shining star as far as I’m concerned,” said Gov. Mike Beebe.
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KS – Sebelius Order Prompts Recycling, Waste Reduction. In response to an executive directive issued by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius early in 2007, all 101 state agencies and their satellite offices around Kansas are now recycling. Every state office now has a registered profile page on the Kansas Green Team website. In all, there are 138 registered locations. “Kansas is leading the way in protecting our natural resources and being good stewards of our environment,” said Gov. Sebelius. “I’m proud of our Kansas Green Teams who have turned a simple idea into an extraordinary accomplishment.”
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MI – Granholm Pushing for Better Education. Gov. Jennifer Granholm pushed Michigan’s educators to focus on early childhood learning and getting high school students into college at the 13th annual governor’s education summit. The summit centered on learning in the 21st century, both how students learn in the digital age and how teaching methods must change in this tech-savvy time. Granholm said, “Every child in the state of Michigan is required to take four years of math in high school, three years of science, four years of English, a foreign language. We’re the only state in the country to require an online learning experience.”
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NY – Spitzer Addresses Foreclosure Crisis. Home ownership advocates stood side-by-side with Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo as Spitzer outlined his plan to put an end to the rising tide of foreclosures across New York. “This may be the single most important piece of this bill, prospectively and perhaps overall. Ensure that loans are not extended until there has been an analysis of the ability to pay,” Spitzer said. The bill would require lenders to warn borrowers, in writing, 60 days before starting the foreclosure process.
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PA – Rendell Task Force to Review Water Infrastructure. The state is in the process of appointing a new task force charged with finding ways to help municipalities and water and sewer system operators fund $20 billion worth of maintenance and reconstruction projects needed to meet federal water quality standards. Gov. Ed Rendell, said it is needed because at the same time federal mandates are requiring expensive sewer and water system improvements, federal funding has been slashed by more than half. “While I’ve called on Congress to restore these valuable funds, we must take steps to ensure we have reliable systems in place that deliver dependable services,” Rendell said. “The high-level task force I’m establishing through this executive order will focus on finding solutions to Pennsylvania’s drinking water and wastewater system needs, either through new funding sources or cost-effective, non-structural alternatives.”
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VA – Kaine Awards Farmland Grants. The scenic county directly north of Culpeper recently received a $165,000 grant from the Virginia Office of Farmland Preservation to purchase development rights on actively farmed land and maintain its rural nature. The state grant matches the county’s $165,000 contribution for a total of $330,000. In all, the state distributed $4.25 million in matching funds to 14 localities. “For the past several years, we have lost valuable farmlands to development at an alarming rate. Today, we have taken an historic step to ensure that well-managed farmland around the commonwealth will be preserved and available for continued agricultural use, now and into the future” said Gov. Tim Kaine.
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WV – Manchin: Insurance Surcharge Must Include Funds for Volunteer Fire Departments. Gov. Joe Manchin says any additional insurance surcharge on car and homeowner insurance premiums needs to include more money for volunteer fire departments in West Virginia. The Governor says that’s why the surcharge was originally instituted decades ago. “I can only tell you the premium tax on your insurance policy, the total entire intention when it was done was to keep our volunteer fire departments viable,” he said. The House of Delegates is considering a bill that would reinstate the .45% surcharge on premiums. The surcharge was removed as part of insurance reforms in 2005. The money generated would go into city police and fire pension funds.
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WY – Freudenthal Approves Comprehensive Clean Coal Legislation. Wyoming became a leader in clean-coal technology with the passage of landmark legislation, the governor said as he signed two bills dealing with underground sequestration of greenhouse gases. “It is clear that these two pieces of legislation are the most comprehensive, most thorough pieces passed by any legislature in the country,” Gov. Dave Freudenthal said. One states that surface landowners control the underground areas where carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas and byproduct of burning coal to make electricity, could be stored. The other sets up a regulatory regime for the practice of carbon sequestration under the supervision of the Department of Environmental Quality with assistance from the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
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