NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson and Reno County Chamber of Commerce CEO Debra Teufel sees good news on the horizon for Siemens Gamesa, but she doesn't have specifics yet.
"There is great optimism for the future at Siemens," Teufel said. "I know that everyone's been worried about what it meant when they had a massive layoff this year. It really was the market conditions, that I think will rectify itself, partly because the production tax credits that were in the Inflation Reduction Act will start jumpstarting new wind farm development. It's just a matter of, well, how soon is that going to trickle down to the local plant?"
The timeline is different on these credits, so that changes the dynamics a bit, but Siemens isn't the only one looking at Hutchinson for growth.
"Production tax credits have always been a thing that has driven wind energy production in our country," Teufel said. "We've never had a ten-year runway for that tax credit. Having a ten-year certainty is a great thing. Sometimes, it also gives people such a long runway that there isn't quite as much urgency from the private sector to build new wind farms."
With the Siemens plant in Fort Madison, Iowa hiring, it is likely just a matter of time before Hutchinson also gets back up and running.
"There is good optimism in that sector," Teufel said. "It's just going to be a matter of, is it going to be 2024 when it comes back? When will production ramp back up here? If I were to guess based on some things that Doug Fulton has shared, I would say spring to early summer, we should start seeing their headcounts increase again."
At the time of the latest cutbacks, Siemens employed 92 workers at the Hutchinson plant.
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