Hemlock Breaks Ground On $1.2B Clarksville Plant

ERIK SCHELZIG

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. and Tennessee officials on Thursday broke ground on a $1.2 billion plant and renamed the road leading to the sprawling facility "Solar Way."

The plant will produce polysilicon, a raw material used to make solar cells and semiconductor devices.

Before remarks at a groundbreaking ceremony, Gov. Phil Bredesen noted that the sun was shining into the faces of people gathered in the audience and said: "It's very appropriate, because that is the future up there."

The plant is scheduled to be completed in 2012 and create more than 800 construction jobs and is expected to have about 500 full-time employees when complete.

Bredesen said the decision by Hemlock to build the plant in Tennessee has laid the groundwork for the solar industry in the state.

"This is part of what helped to get it all started," he said. "It takes that next step to position us as a real leader in the solar industry."