Portland's urban renewal agency sidestepped its own guidelines last week in approving an unprecedented interest-free loan to keep turbine-maker Vestas in the city.
Officials with the Portland Development Commission and Vestas said the $8 million-plus loan and its favorable terms are crucial to sealing a $66.3 million deal to renovate a Pearl District warehouse into the Danish company's new U.S. headquarters. The project, besides offering badly needed construction work, is expected to retain 400 jobs and generate 100 more within five years.
But there is a cost to taxpayers: as much as $2.6 million to cover interest payments that won't be made by the project developer, Gerding Edlen.
DENVER — A parts supplier to Vestas Wind Systems will be the first to benefit from a line of credit created by the state to sustain and create jobs in the clean energy sector.
Gov. Bill Ritter announced Tuesday that Bach Components Colorado in Fort Lupton, northeast of Denver, will receive a $3.26 million loan to support retaining employees and hiring more workers, until the plant employs up to 150.
