Hemlock could have $6B impact

Officials outline plant's effect on business, employment

By JIMMY SETTLE
The Leaf-Chronicle

The term "Power Breakfast" acquired a whole new significance Friday as Clarksville powers up to become home of one of the leading players in the emerging global solar energy industry.

At Montgomery County Civic Hall, some 200 business and community leaders from Clarksville and the Nashville area heard more details of the local impact of the plant.

They also heard keynote speaker Stephanie Burns, president and CEO of Dow Corning, retrace the company's origins that put it on a path to develop a polycrystalline silicon manufacturing plant in Clarksville.

Hemlock Semiconductor LLC ? a newly formed company within the fold of Dow Corning ? officially took control of the northeast Montgomery County plant site Thursday, and is now launching construction of the $1.2 billion plant.

That, in turn, will lead to an economic impact in the broader community that is at least three to five times greater than the initial investment, Clarksville Site Manager Terry Strange told the audience Friday. That's an estimated $3.6 to $6 billion.

Much of that business will come in the form of contracts between Hemlock and local retail businesses and services.

"Like any other industry in your industrial park, we're just another company doing business here," Strange said, "and many of you in this room are going to be the suppliers for this site.

"Right now, there are construction contracts being let. We need people from all types of trades and services."

Local employment

Employment at Hemlock Semiconductor in Clarksville, when it opens in 2012 with about 500 full-time employees, also will be composed almost entirely of local and regional hires, Burns and Strange said.

Strange said the plant payroll will begin with a base group of trained engineers brought here from Hemlock operations in Michigan. They will make up about 10 percent of the Clarksville plant's initial work force.

But over time, Burns said, that 10 percent figure will drop into the single digits as more locally trained people enter the Hemlock payroll.

Burns showed an aerial view of the Clarksville and Michigan sites, saying the footprint for both will be similar.

"It's going to look, and feel, almost like a small city by the time it's done. It's very exciting," she said.

The Clarksville Area Chamber of Commerce hosted the Power Breakfast, and Chamber Chairman David Smith described this as a time when Clarksville is "taking a giant step forward.

"When you take a wonderful company with outstanding leadership and combine it with an outstanding community with outstanding leadership, just look out," Smith said.

"There's never been a time when the future of this community has looked brighter than it looks right now," he said.

Future of solar

Burns, who holds a doctorate in organic chemistry, led the global giant silicone products maker Dow Corning to a record $5.45 billion in annual sales last year.

Silicones encompass a broad spectrum of materials, including both liquids and solids, that are formulated for use in other companies' products.

They can be found, for example, in personal care products like shampoos, cream rinses, hair sprays and cosmetics; electronics, to include LED energy-efficient lighting; and health care applications, to include the coating on needles used in injections.

Burns said Dow Corning is on the cutting edge of inventing and supplying products for global megatrends like sustainable water and energy, green projects to combat climate change and much more.

"In addition to our investments through Hemlock Semiconductor, Dow Corning silicone polymers are great encapsulers for solar cells," Burns said.

"It's a $19 billion market, growing at a rate of 40 to 50 percent per year," she said. "We're investing up to $5 billion in solar investments, mainly in Michigan and here in Tennessee."

She continues to crusade for federal policies and regulations to promote advanced solar technology investment in the U.S. ? warning that the U.S. is beginning to lag behind other countries, and she has carried that message to Congress and President Barack Obama's administration.

About Dow Corning

Dow Corning today has 7,500 products and services in its fold, 29 global manufacturing sites and about 10,000 employees worldwide ? "including the more than 500 that we're soon to have here in Tennessee," Burns said to the Chamber audience's applause.

Dow Corning facilities are regarded around the world as good places to work, Burns said, pointing to Best Employer awards the company has collected not only in the U.S., but also China, Belgium and the United Kingdom.

Dow Corning started what would become Hemlock Semiconductor Group around the 1960s and '70s, and while remaining its majority owner, the company eventually formed a joint venture with Japanese companies Shin Etsu Handotai (now 24.5 percent owner), and Mitsubishi Materials Corp. (12.25 percent).

"We are innovative leaders, unleashing the power of silicon to benefit everyone, everywhere," Burns said.