ind-energy company REpower USA Corp. is moving its headquarters from Portland to Denver in early September, the company said Friday.
The U.S. company, which is a subsidiary of German wind-turbine manufacturer REpower Systems AG, plans to relocate or hire 25 employees for its Denver headquarters operation, and possibly double its Denver staff here in about a year.
REpower USA decided to move its headquarters to Denver “to be strategically located and close to all our customers and projects,” company CEO Steve Dayney said in a statement.
“Denver — centrally located, with excellent national and international transportation
infrastructure and supportive business climate — provides those characteristics we
believe will help us succeed in meeting our U.S. business goals.”
REpower USA’s main operation has been in Portland since its founding in 2007.
REpower USA is one of the first companies to take advantage of the State of Colorado’s
new Job Incentive Growth Fund, passed by the Colorado Legislature this year.
In recent years, Colorado has become more attractive to alternative energy companies, including European wind-energy companies such as Vestas Wind Systems A/S of Denmark, the world’s largest wind-turbine maker.
Vestas, whose U.S. arm is based in Portland, is spending more than $1 billion in Colorado, according to the company.
REpower USA’s German parent company, which reported a $1.7 billion in revenue in its most recent fiscal year, has been working to build its American business recently because it considers the United States the world’s fastest-growing wind energy market, according to the Portland Business Journal. The company had a U.S. backlog of 88 turbines at the end of its most recent fiscal year, ended in March.