Sep. 29--Construction of the $50 million Siemens wind turbine plant in Hutchinson has the potential to bolster the local economy over the next year. Just how much remains a question.

Siemens selected Gray Construction of Louisville, Ky., as its general contractor. No Kansas general contractor was among the final round.

But most of that construction money would flow through to the local economy if Kansas subcontractors are picked.

Gray Construction is talking to a number of contractors, including 40 from Kansas, for the 12 to 18 contracts.

Construction is slated to start at the end of October and take about 10 months.

Stephen Gray, president of Gray Construction, said the company prefers to hire local subcontractors but that it depends upon the actual negotiations.

Siemens has been a recipient of generous incentives to locate in Hutchinson.

The federal and state governments and cities of Hutchinson and South Hutchinson are giving the company $7 million in cash -- $5 million of which will be recovered from employee taxes -- plus 109 acres of land, infrastructure and job training worth millions more.

The 400 jobs the plant is expected to create will compensate for the incentives, say economic developers, but they certainly expect the plant to generate spin-off economic benefits, such as new suppliers, more jobs, production work for local companies and more wind farms.

The first spin-off is the plant construction.

"There's certainly an expectation that there will be some local contractors who will get work," said Dave Kerr, president of the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce.

He said some local companies, including Terracon Consultants, which has a Wichita office, already have done design work at the site.

A&H Electric of Wichita is trying to snare the roughly $6 million electrical contract.

If it wins a contract, the company would hire 15 to 30 workers, said president Dave Bowlin. It cut its work force from 100 to 55 in the spring before adding some employees back over the summer.

"The local economy could certainly use the work," Bowlin said.

The competition is fierce for the work, said Matt Hildreth of the Waldinger Corp.

His company submitted a bid, but he said he doubts he'll get the project. The out-of-state competitors are very hungry, he said.

"For them, there are no school bond issues, no potential casino," he said. "They are coming here to bid, and here we are talking about how bad it is."

A number of local construction contractors said they didn't bid, citing the short time allowed to prepare bids and the vagueness in the specifications.

The project is design-build, said the contractors, which means that Gray must oversee final design of the project.

That puts too much risk on the shoulders of the subcontractors who would be dealing with an unknown general contractor, they said.

Roy Meinhardt, vice president of Shelley Electric, said the tough business environment is making his company more conservative on a project with greater risks.

"There is no other work to make it up if you get in trouble," he said. "It's kind of a Catch-22. You need the work, but you need good work."

Reach Dan Voorhis at 316-268-6577 or dvoorhis@wichitaeagle.com.

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