Solar Panel Company Takes $43 million in Stimulus Money, then lays off 800 workers and moves to China

"Pack it up, we're moving to China"

Beijing, Jan 15, 2011. After taking at least $43 million in assistance from the State of Massachusetts,  Evergreen Solar has changed their plans.

They will be closing their factory, in Devens, Mass in September, and laying off 800 workers.

And then they will move all operations to China.

The chief executive of Evergreen, said falling prices for panels led to the closing, and they will be laying off the 800 workers by the end of March and shifting production to a joint venture with a Chinese company in central China. Evergreen cited the much higher government support available in China.

"It's hard to top China. Their workers get paid almost nothing, and the unions never file grievances. It's like a paradise for industrial corporations. You really gotta be nuts to operate a manufacturing company in the USA, with our high labor cost and incredibly high taxes."

President Barack Hussein Obama, D-Kenya, said he was disappointed by the news. "I really hoped we could create some jobs in the USA, but at least we are creating jobs in China with taxpayer incentives. As a citizen of the world, I see value in this too."

President Obama expressed his frustration with his failure to create jobs. "Look, I've been busting my ass trying to create American jobs. Spending over $3 trillion so far, and I have nothing to show for it."

"If I don't turn this thing around soon, I could lose the primary race to Dennis Kucinich," he told us. "I promised shovel ready jobs, and instead of creating those I ended up losing 3 million more jobs. And I can't keep blaming President Bush forever. Sooner or later, the voters might catch on and hold me accountable."

Chinese manufacturers have been able to push prices down sharply because they receive considerable help from the Chinese government and state-owned banks, and because manufacturing costs are generally lower in China.

“While the United States and other Western industrial economies are beneficiaries of rapidly declining installation costs of solar energy, we expect the United States will continue to be at a disadvantage from a manufacturing standpoint,” he said.

Even though Evergreen opened its Devens plant, with all new equipment, only in 2008, it began talks with Chinese companies in early 2009. In September 2010, the company opened its factory in Wuhan, China, and will now rely on that operation.