Wind Project Needs Contractors

DAYTON -- First Wind, a Portland-based wind energy company, is preparing to erect 58 wind turbines in Whitman County and it's looking for contractors to help with the construction, according regional economic development officials.

The company has $210 million in private financing and will start to clear for roads and the construction of an operations center to service the wind farm, which has been four years in the making, said Marshall Doak, director of the Southeast Washington Economic Development Association that includes Columbia County.

The project will need building construction and roofing, electricians, equipment hauling, metal fabrication, on-site welding and iron workers, sand and gravel hauling, water tankers, clearing and brush disposal, concrete finishers, engineering, general labor, millwright services, road construction, trenching and backfill and turning pad construction.

First Wind is looking for companies in a 100-mile radius of the wind farm site and in the Puget Sound area to submit bids for the various jobs by early spring. Opportunities to do so "will open within the next month or two," according to a prepared statement from the association.

For more information, contact SEWEDA at 509-382- 4825.