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When Spain’s Acciona Energy said that it would build a wind-turbine factory in West Branch, another Spanish manufacturer, Elevadores Goian, which provides lifts for people and equipment inside support towers for wind turbines in most of Acciona’s systems, also started looking at Iowa. Earlier this month, Goian announced that it would open its first U.S. division, Goian North America LLC, in Ankeny’s Metro North Business Park.

This is one example of how wind-energy manufacturers are spurring spinoff development in Iowa. A June release from Gov. Chet Culver’s office noted that six major wind-energy manufacturers have located or plan to locate or expand their operations in the state, including TPI Composites Inc. and Trinity Industries Inc. in Newton.

“We know that this sector is going to keep on growing,” said Curtis Brown, assistant director of economic development for the city of Ankeny, “and we’ll do everything to encourage (Goian’s) business success here. And ultimately their company will grow, perhaps to a permanent location of their own, and their suppliers and related industries will see the success they’ve had here and seek to tap into what’s going on in Ankeny and Central Iowa.”

Now that Spain, Germany and Denmark have advanced wind-energy sectors, said Jon Ayerbe, who is setting up Goian’s U.S. operations, his company sees the United States, China and India as the next emerging markets. The United States is projected to be a world leader in producing wind energy in the next couple of years, with 5,249 megawatts of wind-energy generation capacity installed last year, a growth of 45 percent in one year, and more than 8,000 megawatts under construction this year. Iowa ranks third in the nation with 1,400 megawatts of current wind-power capacity.

But servicing Acciona is not all Goian is hoping to do when it opens its 16,000-square-foot factory and offices in January. It also plans to work with other wind-energy clients as well as produce and sell other hoisting machinery to construction companies.

“This project is actually the beginning,” said Ayerbe, “to show that we want to provide (Acciona) the service that they need, … but also taking into account that we want to work with many other potential (clients).”

Digging roots

Ayerbe, who has an industrial engineering degree, was working for Caterpillar Inc. in Belfast when he heard that Goian, a respected company in his home region, was looking for someone to open its U.S. operations. He joined the company eight months ago and moved to Iowa a month ago. Working out of an apartment in Ingersoll Square, he is interviewing service technicians with a goal of hiring six by early next year and have them train with the five Spanish technicians working on four U.S. projects.

“We need to create a team here so we can replace (the Spanish technicians) and send them home,” he said.

Ayerbe also has been in charge of finding a facility to house Goian’s North American center, which included looking at five states and narrowing down from 10 facility options, including buildings in Norwalk and Winterset, to pick Ankeny. Goian signed a five-year lease with Denny Elwell Co. and is working to build out the space, which will accommodate manufacturing, assembly, service and office functions. When complete, the company will be able to assemble a lift, test it and ship it to the tower manufacturer, which will send the whole system to the wind farm.

Goian was attracted to Iowa because of how responsive the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) was in answering questions and providing information such as contacts for lawyers and suppliers, Ayerbe said. And it liked Ankeny because of its location near the crossroads of interstates 80 and 35, the experience working with the city and the facility’s location near many amenities.

Goian is going through the process to receive funding from Ankeny’s Revolving Loan Fund, and IDED could provide incentives once Goian creates more jobs.

Ayerbe expects to hire 10 to 12 employees in the first year and 25 to 30 over the next three years. Many will be service technicians who will travel for months at a time to work on wind-energy projects throughout North America.

Though Goian North America LLC will have its roots in wind-energy projects, it also hopes to sell its elevation systems to construction companies. It already is working with some potential clients to set up prototypes of its machines and test them. Depending on how well the business does, Goian’s parent company, the Jaso Group, could also expand some of its other operations to Central Iowa.

“We have a chance to come here because of the wind energy,” Ayerbe said. “It was a big opportunity for us, but we are followed by our other companies to see how we perform, how is the industry, and if they can have the opportunity to come here, they will do it.”

Just adding 30 people to its U.S. operation will be huge growth for Goian, which has about 50 employees total. The company claims to be the first to develop its own rack-and-pinion technology and cable technology for elevation systems in wind turbines. It has installed 2,500 lifts so far and though its main office is in northern Spain, it has worked on projects in Japan, South Korea, North Africa and South America.

Cultural immersion

Although Goian felt it would be easier to expand to the United States rather than China or India, it has faced some cultural challenges. One in particular, said Ayerbe, is working with insurance companies to set up a competitive benefits package; Spain has government-provided health coverage.

But at the same time, Ayerbe has found an accepting culture. “I’m surprised,” he said. “The United States is very open to everybody that is coming. … No matter where you come from, nobody’s surprised by your background or your culture. They just accept it.”

Working with a foreign company took collaboration among the city of Ankeny, the Greater Des Moines Partnership and IDED. Brown said these groups worked hard to help Goian find a location, build trust with the company, make sure building codes were compatible with its systems, assist with the immigration process and provide information on workforce recruitment.

“It’s a process that you don’t experience all the time,” he said. “But we have great international expertise at the Department of Economic Development and were able to really answer their questions in a timely way.”

This project could be especially important to Ankeny as it looks to attract more opportunities in advanced manufacturing and Des Moines Area Community College starts a new wind-energy program.

“For Ankeny, this means new jobs, new investment and growth in advanced manufacturing sectors, especially in growing alternative energy sectors like wind energy,” Brown said, “and that’s exactly what we’re working to promote with our economic development programs.”