Reid joins A-Power in grand opening for new LED plant

October 13, 2010

 Las Vegas, NV—Nevada Senator Harry Reid today joined executives from the A-Power Energy Generation Systems in opening its new LED manufacturing facility. The new facility is expected to produce more than 1,000 local, permanent jobs. A-Power, based in Shenyang, China, previously announced plans to locate a wind turbine assembly plant in Southern Nevada.  The facility opened today will house the North America headquarters for A-Power and provide a temporary facility for its wind turbine manufacturing project.

Below are Reid’s prepared remarks:
 
“America is going to use more than 20 million barrels of oil today.  That’s more than 20 percent of all of the oil the entire world will use today. But America produces less than three percent of it. That’s a strategy for yesterday.  We need a strategy for tomorrow.
 
“That’s what today is all about.  This project is a big step in that direction. The more we invest in and develop clean energy – like the kind A-Power generates – the faster we’ll solve two of our toughest challenges: Creating jobs and reducing our reliance on oil.

“Our state has solar, wind and geothermal resources like nowhere else.  We need to continue turning those resources into jobs. The wind turbines and LED technology that will come from Clark County will be used all around the world.  But most importantly for our economy, it will create more than 1,000 good-paying jobs right here – where we need it most and when we need it most.

“No place on Earth is better for this kind of development than right here in Nevada.  That’s why companies like A-Power are coming here from halfway around the globe. This is just the beginning.  I look forward to a long, productive relationship with our new friends from China, a partnership that will continue to bring jobs to Nevada.
 
“Other companies and other countries will see the success of the facility that will soon stand where we’re standing today. They will follow A-Power’s lead and put even more Nevadans back to work. When they do, we’ll reduce our reliance on oil even more.  Nevada will become energy independent even faster.  And our economy will rebound even stronger than it ever was.
 
“Nevada is already our nation’s hub of renewable energy.  Companies like A-Power are making us the international hub of the renewable energy industry.
 
“And it’s plants like these that are helping to plant the roots of that new future.”