Title: Cleantech companies add local jobs from sales in China - MassHighTech

Industry sector: Other

Cleantech companies add local jobs from sales in China

Special to Mass High Tech

Doing business in China has spurred some New England cleantech companies to add jobs locally in the past year, and the companies are poised to make still more hires as the Chinese market for renewable power continues to grow.

Devens-based American Superconductor Corp., which produces components and systems for wind turbines, and Watertown-based A123 Systems Inc., which produces batteries for electric vehicles, are two examples of the trend, said New England Clean Energy Council president Nick d’Arbeloff.

“When these companies go to China and meet with success, it inevitably grows their business and delivers jobs back to Massachusetts at their headquarters location,” d’Arbeloff said.

American Superconductor has five Chinese wind-power companies as customers and has grown its corporate work force in Devens by 10 percent in the past year, to 160 employees, said company spokesman Jason Fredette. The job growth is in the areas of finance, human resources, administrative support and other corporate functions.

“A lot of those additions on the corporate side are related to our wind business,” Fredette said, adding that the business has won more than $600 million worth of orders from Chinese companies since July. Among the orders is a contract with China’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, Sinovel Wind, for electrical control systems to serve 5 megawatt turbines.

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