With the topping off today of the Solar City plant in South Buffalo, attention is shifting from the jobs of construction to the jobs of operations.
Late next year or very early in 2017, there will be 1,500 people working on the former Republic Steel plant site at Riverbend. That's the message Christopher Schoepflin took to the Unitarian-Universalist church at Elmwood and Ferry last night for a meeting of the Sierra Club.
Regional director for Empire State Development, Schoepflin says there will be hundreds of workers by the end of the year.
"Certainly a signature initiative of the governor's Buffalo Billion vision. Solar City presents opportunities though for, we think, all portions and all constituents of the population," Schoepflin said.
"We're really excited about the overall impact that Riverbend and Solar City will have for this community for years to come."
He says hiring is starting. To get the multi-billion dollar plant up and running, Schoepflin says workers across all skills will be needed, not just human resources people to hire but actual production workers to test the machinery and test the initial production. He says most workers will come from this area. Albany is expecting just as many workers supplying and servicing the plant as will be working in it.
