By Sarah Doty
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

DEXTER -- The rumor that Jan Hangge has heard is that 2010 will be the next time workers assembling wind turbines will travel to Dexter. If that rumor is true, she only has one thought.

"We can't wait."

The co-owner of the Oasis Bar & Grill in the city's downtown said she saw her business triple at lunch last year, when the 200-plus workers flooded the area each day to assemble the 134 wind turbines that make up the Grand Meadow and Wapsipinicon wind farms.

"(The workers) came in for lunches and dinners," she said. "It was wonderful."

Those same workers also found their way into the Lake Geo Travel Plaza, just off Interstate 90.

The plaza, which includes a gas station, restaurant, bar and banquet hall, also saw an increase in business, according to owner Jon Shaw.

"There is a lot of activity, a lot of people. It's really good for business," Shaw said. "They did their fueling here and they ate here. (Business) probably doubled."

Linda Williamson, general manager of the Windmill Inn & Suites, said the hotel also saw benefits from the workers being in town.

"Business here stays really steady when the workers are here," Williamson said.

The hotel's 22 rooms stayed "pretty much booked," when the workers were in town.

Aside from just the workers, Williamson said that people just driving through sometimes stop and stay at the hotel just to learn a little more about the giant electricity generators.

Benefits continue for community

Now, most of the workers have left the area and business is back to normal. But that doesn't mean the wind turbines aren't still providing benefits for Dexter and towns across southeastern Minnesota.

Permanent operations and maintenance workers are needed for the upkeep of the turbines, and those workers are local, according to Kurt Christensen, enXco operations manager for the Grand Meadow and Wapsipinicon wind farms.

"We have two wind farms; each of those entail one manager, one supervisor and six technicians," he said. "We have a requirement that you have to be here in 30 minutes, so they are all local."

Christensen, who grew up in a small town, realizes that while it is only a small number of local jobs, it makes a big difference in a small community.

"We just put another 15 jobs in the community, and for this small community, 15 jobs is a big deal," he said.

Garwin McNeilus is also providing jobs for locals at his 56-turbine farm just south of Dodge Center.

"My wind farm, right now, total employment counting what I have and the people that do my maintenance, is nine full-time, good jobs," McNeilus said. "Wind farms do mean employment. They are seven-day-a-week jobs, 24 hours a day. Like a hospital."

McNeilus also pointed out that the turbines provide jobs for more than just those who climb the towers.

"Then you have all the support, which is snow plowing, road maintaining, hardware store supplies. It is more than just the full-time employees."

Christensen agreed and added that local gravel pits have really been one of those "supports" whose benefits have flown under the radar.

"You have to build all those roads. You have to put all the gravel into the roads, and underneath the turbines, and you have locals that have to truck that gravel," he said.

Austin attorney Craig Byram addressed the wind easements, or contracts, which also include benefits for local workers.

Byram has negotiated wind contracts for the last several years, and said that, especially when it comes to drain tiling, there is specific wording requiring the developer to "use local contractors to do that work."

That is for two reasons.

"We have experience that a lot of these companies might have experience down in Nebraska with different soil types, and then bring up their favorite tiler from Nebraska who has no idea what he is doing up here," Byram said. "Plus, the local guy probably installed the tile in the first place and probably has the tile maps, knows exactly how it is all set up and how he built it and why he built it the way he did."

Waiting patiently

If and when the next round of workers make their way to Dexter, businesses will be ready and waiting.

"In anticipation, because of a rumor that there are going to be more towers going up within 30 miles this summer, I have prepared letters to all corporate headquarters that are involved in the towers and I have offered special rates for the guys," Williamson said.

Shaw said he is also gearing up.

"The next five years are going to be interesting," he said. "To see how many (turbines) we have here. One of the executives from enXco told me that we will have 1,000 units (turbines) in here within five years between Dodge Center and Riceville, Iowa. That's a lot of turbines."

Hangge is excited.

"It's great," she said. "Any little bonus is great. The guys all stay at the hotel, so the hotel gets money. They eat all over. It's great."

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