SOLAR POWER PLANT ADDS 1000+ JOBS

FPL hiring 1,100 workers to build solar energy plant west of Indiantown
Eve Samples, April 21, 2009 (Palm Beach Post)

"Wanted: about 1,000 workers to build the second-largest solar plant in the world.

"Qualifications: basic assembly skills; plumbers, carpenters and other tradesmen also may be needed.

"To apply: head to Indiantown this weekend.

"The contractor overseeing Florida Power & Light Co.'s solar-thermal power plant in western Martin County is looking for help - lots of help - at a time when double-digit unemployment has hamstrung the local economy."

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"The 1,000 jobs would be welcome enough, but the ripple effects could inject new life into small businesses…

"Job fairs are scheduled for [10 a.m. to 4 p.m.] Friday and Saturday [at Timer Powers Park] in Indiantown, and the community is bracing for a big turnout…"

"In Martin County, the jobless rate was 10.1 percent in March. In Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties, the rates were 9.9 and 12.8 percent, respectively…

"For skilled trade workers, the jobs will start at $20 an hour…Lower-skill positions will start at $9 an hour."

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"When the FPL plant is complete in 2010, it will generate up to 75 megawatts…

"Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center, as it is dubbed, is one of three solar-powered plants FPL announced last year…[It will also partner] to build a 75-megawatt solar plant at Babcock Ranch north of Fort Myers…

"At the Martin plant, more than 180,000 mirrors will be used to collect sunlight in troughs, in turn making steam to power FPL's existing gas-fired plant at the site. When complete, it will be the largest solar plant of any kind outside of California and the second-largest in the world…"