Oct 12 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Rod Boshart The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Hundreds of new good-paying jobs are blowing into Iowa.

Gov. Chet Culver announced Wednesday that Hendricks Industries plans to open a $32 million advanced manufacturing plant in Keokuk that will produce wind turbine towers, creating 350 jobs with an average wage of $23.50 an hour.

The company, which Culver visited in Denmark during a recent three-nation European trade mission, also plans to invest $2.5 million to improve a Mississippi River port terminal into a major distribution center that will create 10 jobs and retain 22 existing positions, Culver added.

"Our new location in Iowa, the heart of America's wind belt, puts our company in the perfect position to serve a market that is projected to triple production by the year 2020," said Ken Hendricks, owner of the Hendricks Holding Group.

Culver said Iowa now ranks third nationally in wind energy and has established companies in Cedar Rapids, West Branch, Fort Madison and now Keokuk that encompass all aspects of turbine manufacturing.

"We're hoping to lead the nation when it comes to manufacturing related to towers, blades and turbines," he said.

The governor predicted more job-creation announcements would come later this year, noting that prospects are "looking very positive" for TPI Composites Inc. to build a $56 million wind turbine blade factory in Newton that would create hundreds of jobs.

Before heading to Keokuk for the announcement, Culver said at the eighth annual Venture Capital and Entrepreneur Conference that Iowa plans to use the Power Fund and other resources to capitalize on the potential for solar energy and biomass ventures in this state.

"Great things are happening and this is only the beginning," he said. "I really believe that much of our success for the future will depend on our ability to tap this gold mine of opportunity related to renewable energy -- all forms. Diversification is the key."

The governor also took the occasion to announce three Targeted Small Business Program recipients that included a $38,000 business startup loan for Kyikyi Cafe oriental restaurant in Cedar Rapids and a $10,000 loan for expansion of the Aladdin Restaurant in Cedar Rapids.