WES doors blow open

• 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.

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — A little more than three months after the announcement that Wind Energy Services Inc. (WES) would be opening a Worthington facility, the business is now officially up and running in its location near the Prairie Holdings Group building.

Brandon Simmons, a business development specialist with WES, told the Daily Globe that his company opened its Worthington site Thursday. The WES offices are inside the city’s Bioscience Park Bioscience Training and Testing Center, a spec building that’s being converted into a complex that would comprise three incubator facilities.

“We’re busy trying to do this smart warehouse, a shell or depot where maintenance material and supplies can be delivered,” said Simmons, who called the site preparation “phase one” of the company’s Worthington launch.

WES, which has its headquarters in Independence, Kan., and a satellite office in Sweetwater, Texas, announced in May that Worthington would be the site of its second satellite office. The company specializes in wind energy service and repair operations.

The first critical mission for WES in Worthington is to hire a lead composite technician for the facility, Simmons explained. That person will likely be trained at WES’ Texas office, and will require some experience and have some administrative responsibilities.

Once that individual is hired, Simmons added, additional employees will be recruited.

“Phase two will be demarcated with a soft launch,” he said. “We’ll hire a receptionist, corporate technicians … we’ll ideally have a team of four. Phase three will be a grand opening probably in the spring; we want the office to be lived in.”

In the meantime, Simmons noted that WES has made several purchases for its Worthington start-up — including furniture and a fleet of vehicles — and has met several people in Worthington and around the region.

“Everything has been so great, and everyone has been so nice and helpful,” Simmons said, “For example, there’s Mike (Burns), he made the keys … he’s so great. Tony (DeWall) from Carpet Plus, he went out of his way and came to my office. … I’m getting to know a lot of people.”

WES has a three-year lease on 5,000 square feet in the spec building that it has the option to extend once. Local economic development officials are hopeful the company will eventually construct its own building nearby in the bioscience park.

Co-tenants at the spec building are also being sought for the testing and training center facility, which together would develop workforce talent and generate new business opportunities. The University of Minnesota, Minnesota State University-Mankato and Minnesota West Community and Technical College have been mentioned as possibilities for the building.

Tags: state and region, news, worthington