Solar panel company moving in

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Stion, a company that makes thin film solar panels, announced Tuesday that it's locating a mass production facility in the former Sunbeam appliance factory in the Forrest County Industrial Park. It's the first phase of a company investment of $500 million and will create 1,000 jobs over the next six years. The company will use about 300,000 square feet of the facility to produce panels for residential and commercial use. Stion now produces them at a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing and research and development facility in San Jose, Calif., where the company is headquartered. One reason Hattiesburg was chosen is the presence of the University of Southern Mississippi's advanced materials research. The state's contribution is a $75 million incentives package. (Sources: Gov. Haley Barbour, 01/04/10, Hattiesburg American, Mississippi Press, 01/05/11)