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Local robotics maker wants to build wind turbine plant

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By Thomas Gnau, Staff Writer Updated 9:14 AM Friday, July 23, 2010

WASHINGTON TWP. — Robotics producer Rixan Associates Inc. wants to manufacture hubless vertical wind turbines, but owner/president Stephen Harris said Thursday, July 22, he hasn’t decided where to build a production facility.

The $4.1 million facility Harris envisions would employ just less than 200 people initially, making a wind turbine designed at St. Louis University, he said. Rixan has exclusive rights to commercialize the design, he said.

Harris said he has a “firm offer” from North Dakota state government and expressions of interest from Ohio, Missouri, Michigan and elsewhere, but Rixan has not formally applied for government assistance.

“Obviously, we would prefer to build in Ohio because we are Ohioans,” Harris said in an interview at his company’s Paragon Road offices and showroom. “But it really depends on where we get the funding.”

Harris couldn’t say precisely how much assistance he needs to make a decision on where to build the facility, but he did say he was also wary of “too much” government involvement. He said discussions about his plans have been “flying under the radar” for nearly a year.

The idea is to offer homes, small businesses and property owners relatively low-cost wind turbines. Harris said he has not settled on a firm price for the turbine — he mentioned figures ranging from about $2,700 to $3,000 — but he said purchasers would recoup up to a third of the price from federal tax credits and an additional 20 percent in state credits.

Talking about what he sees as the Dayton area’s potential advantages, he pointed to the materials survivability testing facility at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and component engineering capabilities at the National Composite Center in Kettering.

But he also said the project involves a strong partnership with St. Louis University’s Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology and Missouri government has been aggressively courting him.

Chris Meyer, director of energy programs at the Dayton Development Coalition, believes there could be “tremendous growth” in locales where businesses, school districts and property owners gradually become aware of the possibilities of using smaller wind turbines as generators to supplement power for their own buildings. He called Harris “a little bit of a pioneer.”

“He’s right in that spot, that sweet spot,” Meyer said of Harris.

“We are in discussions with the company,” said Bethany Close, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Development.

She declined to say what kinds of loans or grants may be made available to Rixan.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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