600 jobs to land at Michoud

NEW ORLEANS – NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility will get 600 new jobs when Blade Dynamics, a wind turbine blade and component manufacturer, sets up shop at the east New Orleans site. Blade Dynamics, a British company, partnered with American Superconductor Corp. and Dow Venture Capital on the project. To qualify for $30 million in state incentives, Blade Dynamics had to incorporate in the United States and place headquarters in New Orleans. It must create 600 direct jobs by 2015, and the company will invest $13 million. The state estimates there will be 970 indirect jobs, with $35.8 million in new state tax revenue and $23.9 million in new local tax revenue over the next 10 years. Michoud, which for years built the external tanks for the space shuttle, is one of the world's largest manufacturing centers and sits on 832 acres. (Sources: Times-Picayune, New Orleans City Business, 08/17/10)