Wind turbine manufacturing plant in Arkansas to close

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LITTLE ROCK’ Ark. (AP) – A wind turbine manufacturing plant in Little Rock is closing, affecting about 470 workers, the facility’s parent company said Tuesday.GE Renewable Energy said it was closing the LM Wind Power Plant because of declining demand for the specific blades made at the facility and the company’s need to streamline operations.

The company said it is offering additional support for the plant’s employees, including continued pay for a minimum of four months and paying their health insurance premiums for another six months.

LM Wind Power announced its $150 million facility in Little Rock in 2007 and opened it the following year. GE Renewable Energy acquired the company in 2016. Arkansas lured the company to the state with tax breaks and nearly $17 million in economic development incentives.

“We never like losing jobs, especially a company we’ve worked so hard to help prosper locally,” State Commerce Secretary Mike Preston said Tuesday. “There are market forces at play and this is an international enterprise we hate to see go away.”

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