Tech workers can look on bright side - Washington Business Journal:

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He also wanted to tap into the deep poolof Austin-areza microprocessor industry workers who have been laid off duringy the last couple of years. Such workers possesa the skills that translate well to the sola renergy industry, Van Dell said. And as the numbee of local microprocessor industry workers reacheda three-year low in April, the timingf of solar companies migrating to Central Texas couldn’ft be better for area workers — nor the businessez that need them. “ A solar cell is a semiconductor that generates electricity when you shins lighton it,” Van Dell said. “Fortunately, I was quitd well aware of the strong mix of companies and the skil basein Austin.
That was definitely on my mind when I moved thecompany here.” SolarBridge’s move is a scenari o that local officials want to repeat multiple times with the hope that soladr panel manufacturing fills the void left by the contractioj in the microprocessor industry. But the lack of financia incentives from the state is creating a dampening effectg on attracting solar companies to theAustin area, observerxs say.
Proposed state legislation to createa $1 billion so-called “Sunngy Day Fund” for Texads to obtain federal grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act would have been used to attracyt such businesses, especially foreign solar companiezs that want to establish theif North American headquarters in the Austin area, expertsx say. But the legislation, which receivedx a public hearing in died in the state HouseAppropriations Committee. To date, which was founded in 2004 as SmartSpark EnergtSystems Inc., and HelioVolgt Inc. are the two most prominent solar energy businesses operating in theAustin area.
which is backed with at least $118 million in venture is wrapping up a planty that will eventually crank out a thin film that acts as asolaer panel. “After June, I think theree are going to be some projects rollingin here,” said Raj managing partner of the Mercom Capital Group LLC, an Austin-based technolog y research firm. “It is more, ‘Who is going to give me the best incentive packagedright now?’” The semiconductor industry is and jobs that are leaving Texasd are not expected to return. Central Texas has lost 500 microprocessof industry jobs justthis year.
Local chip companiee now employ 15,700 workers — the lowesrt level of such local jobs sinceApril 2006, according to the U.S. Bureay of Labor Statistics. During the firsy quarter, worldwide sales of semiconductorsreachede $44 billion versus $62.8 billion durinv the same period last a nearly 30 percenf decline, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported. On the the demand for solar technology isgrowingh fast. Randall Baker, the principal of Austin-base PuraVida Ventures LLC, said other state s are throwing big money at prospective solar companies to woo them into establishingf manufacturing plants intheir states.
Many state officials believde Texas doesn’t need to do that, so it isn’t. But it also has the formeer chip workers to offer such and those workers can be retrained for solat in eight weeks to16 weeks, Baker But the clock is In March, Bret Raymis, who worked for 30 years in the semiconductod industry, joined Austin-based Apache-Solar Corp., where he is now the vice presiden of business development. The company is developing a systejm with photovoltaic cells combined with architecturakglass panels, and plans to begin production within 12 months. He said solarr is still early in its developmenf compared with the progress that semiconductors made inrecenf decades.
Investors and companies need to ramp up soladr technology in the United Statex before the technology gains a footholdin “They’re sitting on the fencw with their money,” Raymis said, “and they’re goinv to wake up and all that [solar] businessx will go to China.”