Inside story: How Lawrence County won a $1.1 billion plant in project 'US 4'

Jan. 1—MOULTON — It all began in April with an email for Lawrence County.

It ended in November with the rural county landing a $1.1 billion plant that'll make modules for solar panels, eventually employ 715 workers and transform the area.

Now, county officials are revealing for the first time the process behind the project — dubbed "US 4" — to land the First Solar plant. The effort involved more than 500 emails and phone calls between federal, state and county government entities, and business leaders in the United States and overseas.

"It was only a few months from that first email until we had an announcement," said Tabitha Pace, executive president and CEO of Lawrence County's Industrial Development Board. "The project moved exceptionally fast and required our full attention. Industrial projects can normally take years to come to fruition. That was just not the case with First Solar. It wasn't even a year ago that we heard of this project."

Construction is expected to begin in June on the First Solar plant in at Lawrence County's Mallard Fox West Industrial Park near the Morgan County line. Company officials said jobs will have an average hourly wage of $26.77 with production beginning by the end of 2025. The facility is expected to be 2.4 million square feet, or 55 acres, they said.

Lawrence County's effort to attract the plant wasn't without hiccups. As recently as October, a planned announcement of the new plant had to be canceled. But persistence finally paid off for a county that has dealt with challenges since March 2014 when the International Paper mill in Courtland employing about 1,100 workers closed for good.

Those challenges help explain why Pace said her office made it a priority to quickly answer the initial queries from the Tennessee Valley Authority and Savills, a London-based consulting firm representing First Solar, a solar panel manufacturer based in Tempe, Arizona.

Founded in 1999, First Solar is considered the largest U.S.-based solar panel manufacturer and employed 4,800 full-time workers in 2021 with facilities in Ohio and California and net sales of $2.9 billion, according to its company profile. It ships its solar panels to more than 45 countries. — TVA reaches out

In April, Pace responded to the first request for information from TVA via email, she said.

TVA spokesman Scott Fiedler said projects such as First Solar oftentimes reach out to his agency for possible locations in its seven-state region. He said his agency is a strong proponent of solar energy.

"We helped First Solar identify sites that could meet the company's extremely quick timeline to production," Fiedler said. "As sites were narrowed, we were able to leverage our strong partnership with Joe Wheeler EMC. We worked closely with them to move the project forward."

He said First Solar's products will bring long-term positive effects for the entire TVA region.

"TVA is focused on recruiting and retaining top-tier companies, which results in jobs and investment for the communities we serve," Fiedler said. He said in fiscal 2022 TVA helped attract or retain an estimated 66,500 jobs and more than $10 billion in projected capital investment.

First Solar also fits with TVA's goal to add 10,000 megawatts of solar power by 2035.

"TVA is a decarbonization and innovation leader, and we want to make our region the national epicenter for clean energy technologies. ... Recruiting a top solar panel manufacturer — like First Solar — demonstrates our commitment to growing solar energy in our region. It makes good business sense to have those panels manufactured in our region where the energy will be generated and used."

In May, Savills directly contacted the Lawrence IDB with a request to sign a non-disclosure agreement and participate in a kickoff call. By June, Savills had its answers, Pace said.

"We were trying not to get cut from the project," she said. "Every communication with them was about not getting cut. If they called me or emailed me at 10 at night, wanting to know our what electrical capacity is, I was getting back with them immediately. Their top-level management might be in Malaysia or Vietnam. That is their working day over there. It's like that with any project. We try to stay in the project as long as you can.

"The relationship we built with them was instrumental on them coming here. They didn't have to wait on me to get information back to them. I knew it had to be fast. I wanted to be in front of everybody else. If they send (emails) out to 50 people at 9 o'clock at night and I can get back with them at 9:15, that could help. Maybe I can be that first person to get back in touch with them. We worked hard to get that effort going with every communication. I'm sure they weren't getting that in other areas."

The quick responses didn't go unnoticed, either.

At the Nov. 16 announcement of the plant, Ann Marie Collins, executive vice president for Savills, said Lawrence was selected from more than 100 sites across the nation, with many being in the Southeast. She said the IDB's dedication played a role in the plant locating in Lawrence County, and open communications were key.

"The state and local groups worked hard and were dedicated to this project," Collins said. "We liked the quality of the available work force, the availability of the land and the infrastructure of the area. We looked at the water, wastewater, electric (and) natural gas at the industrial park."

Pace said she sent Savills information on education, utilities, transportation, site requirements, community information and workforce development to help Lawrence County survive each time the list of prospective sites was cut.

"We're just trying to stay in the game. That's true with any project, the same with this one," she said.

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Getting specific

Pace said the county initially offered 230 acres at the industrial park.

"We might get an email asking if we have a site that fits certain parameters. We send them information on whatever site they may be interested in. We didn't know it was First Solar until well into the project. We didn't find out they needed more (land) until the end of the project," she said.

"An adjoining landowner had the acreage. They found the landowner and decided to purchase the extra land. We've marketed the 230 acres a lot. We've been No. 2 on that site several times, but never have been first."

That was about to change.

She said First Solar plans to purchase additional acreage extending to Lawrence County 222 on the south side of the industrial park from a private landowner for $15 million to $20 million.

Pace said the Mallard West park site was the only county site she pointed out to Savills.

"Courtland (industrial park) doesn't have the infrastructure, and (Savills) said they needed rail in the beginning, a massive amount of electricity, water and sewer. Courtland doesn't have that," she said.

She said it was July before Savills officials physically toured the park site and discussed utilities, workforce training/development and the community.

"They looked at it all," Pace said. "One group came in and talked about labor force. One group came in and just looked at the site. One group came and talked about utilities, transportation. They really looked at our whole region, not just Lawrence County."

Given a short notice, she said she brought in Alabama-Huntsville and Calhoun Community College officials to discuss workforce qualities with First Solar.

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Contenders thinned

In August, Pace said she was notified Lawrence had made the final three possible locations. The momentum started to build on the project.

"When we got down to the three sites, that was when I brought my board in," she said. "I don't necessarily tell them when we start to discuss projects. I work projects every day. I don't tell them every detail. I might tell them I'm working on a project, and I'll keep them informed. That's how it went here on this project for a few months. ... As you get closer, and you make the cuts, you have to start talking about incentives, how the utilities are going to serve it, how the roads are going to be built."

Lawrence County and the state offered property tax abatements and sales tax abatements as major incentives for First Solar.

The company will pay no state or local noneducational property taxes for 20 years, and noneducational sales and use taxes will also be abated during the construction period, according to the incentive agreement. Limestone County and the state gave Mazda Toyota Manufacturing abatements when it decided to locate in Limestone County.

According to the First Solar agreement, the waived property taxes will come to about $2.5 million per year — for a total of $50 million — over the 20-year abatement period.

Noneducational construction-related transaction taxes are expected to be about $19,053,000, according to the agreement.

Additionally, Lawrence County Commission Chairman Bobby Burch said he first heard about the project from Pace about July and assured her office the commission would help however it could. That assistance came in form of a $500,000 commitment to help mitigate an ephemeral stream and/or wetlands on the additional acreage First Solar is planning to purchase.

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Hurdle appears

First Solar's executive level and workforce team visited the county in September, Pace said.

In mid-October, she said, the company confirmed Lawrence County was chosen. An announcement was planned for Oct. 27, but disappointment quickly set in when First Solar canceled the announcement because of "ongoing negotiations," Pace added.

IDB attorney Cecil Caine said the delay was not totally unexpected.

"I wasn't surprised or shocked they postponed it the week before," he said. "I knew it was out of our control. I didn't know all of the dynamics of it, it's something you can't control. ... Everybody has a sense of hope, and they prepare for the worse, too. It's nothing you can keep score on."

Three weeks later, the announcement was made.

IDB Chairman Kenneth Brackins called the company landing in Lawrence County "transformative."

And activity with the facility continues to be robust.

The Morgan County Commission contributed $150,000 to the project in December. Commission Chairman Ray Long said Morgan County residents will find employment with First Solar or some of its suppliers. — Moving forward

At a Lawrence IDB board meeting last week, Pace told members a small staff of First Solar officials were in the area "looking at the workforce, checking out hotels, temporary office space."

"(They) went to a workforce summit with me in Athens," she said. "We had a full week. They loved the area. We'll have additional meetings with them. We want to do whatever we can to keep First Solar in front of everybody. In front of our students, our workers. First Solar wants to be very involved in our community. ... Everywhere I've been since the announcement, Atlanta, Birmingham, Montgomery, Athens, Cullman, people are asking me about and talking about First Solar."

Collins said a tentative groundbreaking is set for June.

The state's industrial development training institute, AIDT, will assist First Solar with recruiting and training workers, the company said last month.

First Solar spokesman Reuven Proenca said the company will be hiring to fill numerous positions, including engineers, technicians and factory floor workers.

"While designing and building a factory of the future, we're challenging ourselves to focus on the continuous improvement of our throughput, quality and safety through automation without losing sight of our greatest strength, our people," Proenca wrote in an email. "We see this as an opportunity to hire associates with a wide range of skills and capabilities."

Pace said it remains unclear what suppliers will come into the area to provide goods and services for First Solar. County and company officials have stated the manufacturing facility will bring hundreds of indirect jobs.

"At this time, the company has not mentioned any suppliers other than of course, glass for the solar panels," she said. "I have no way of knowing if restaurants or gas stations will locate near Hillsboro or Trinity due to the location of First Solar, but with approximately 1,000 employees traveling in and out of the Mallard Fox West Industrial Complex each day, there is definitely a need for food and gas in that area. Hopefully we will begin to see some of that growth before First Solar begins operations."

At the board meeting last week, District 3 County Commissioner Kyle Pankey told board members he is working to land a major hotel in Lawrence County and having First Solar moving in makes that a greater possibility. "This announcement didn't hurt," he told them. "Let's keep it going."

— mike.wetzel@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442. Twitter @DD_Wetzel.