Editorial: WES blows into town

• WES at work

File Photo: Wind Energy Services, which currently has wind energy service and repair operations in Independence, Kan., and Sweetwater, Texas, has announced plans to open a new location in Worthington.

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• Online: Wind Energy Services
• Online: Worthington Regional Economic Development Corp.

With last week’s formal announcement of Wind Energy Services’ (WES) opening of a Worthington location, there are multiple reasons for celebration and optimism.

For starters, luring in a company often takes considerable effort, and Glenn Thuringer and the Worthington Regional Economic Development Corp. (WREDC) — as well as other local officials — certainly worked hard to make things happen. It should be stressed that when it comes to economic development nowadays, communities across the Midwest and the remainder of the country aren’t just competing with each other; they’re vying with locales around the world, too. Additionally, companies like WES are even more coveted because of how hot wind energy is right now — at a time of increasing emphasis on renewable and alternative energies.

WES, “which supplies inspection, maintenance and repair services to the renewable energy market,” according to a company press release, has a niche ideal for this region, and — according to WES Business Development Specialist Brandon Simmons — will likely have up to four “teams” of four people apiece working on turbine sites around here. Not only are there more jobs being created as a result, but Worthington’s Bioscience Park spec building now has its first tenant ... and a renewed hope that other like-minded business may very well follow.

Word about a new company has been circulating around Worthington for a while now, and finally a good deal of labor has come to fruition. That’s something to celebrate.

Tags: wind energy, opinion, worthington, editorials, wredc, wes