Solar farms leading to jobs – Top News / The Times News
Solar farms leading to jobs
By By Molly McGowan/Times-News
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Tuesday’s (Jan 15, 2013) hiring event for the Strata Solar farms will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Alamance County JobLink Career Center, located at 2640 Columbine Lane, Burlington. For education and experience requirements, or additional information, call 336-570-6800.
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Solar farms are sprouting up in central North Carolina, and now they are bringing new jobs.
Strata Solar, LLC, is a North Carolina solar farm developer that began building utility-scale solar farms in the southeast regions of the state, and is now focusing its efforts in the north, said Strata spokesman Blair Schoof.
The company now has 15 solar farms up and running in North Carolina, 11 of which were completed in 2012, he said.
“Our intention for this year is about 25, for 2013,” said Schoof.
The four solar farms still under construction include Mount Olive Farm in Wayne County, Two Lines Farm in Catawba County, Dibrell Farm in adjacent Caswell County and Fuquay Farm in Wake County’s town of Middle Creek, said Schoof.
Strata Solar hires construction staff who live close to each cluster, who then move from two concurrent job sites to another, “so they are given the longest employment opportunity as possible,” Schoof said.
“We hired 80 people … in September for the Warrentown Farm project,” in Warren County, and part of that crew is heading over to work on the Caswell County farm, he said.
Now, Strata Solar is hiring a crew to work on the Wake County solar farm, and a hiring event will take place Tuesday at the Alamance County JobLink Career Center in Burlington.
“We’re bringing on another 40,” Schoof said, adding each project takes 12 to 14 weeks to complete, but since the crews move from site to site, some construction employees have been employed for upwards of a year or more.
According to a news release, additional Strata Solar farms will follow in Orange and Chatham counties, adjacent to Alamance County. Schoof added solar farms are also planned for Rockingham and Person counties.
“This is furthering what we’re calling our ‘northern cluster’ of solar farms,” Schoof said.
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