Oregon Public Broadcasting

A German industrial firm has committed to increase the workforce of it’s Oregon plant by more than 50 percent by fall.

Six hundred fifty people work at the Solarworld plant in Hillsboro, making components that get layered into photovoltaic solar panels. 

Now the company wants to assemble the finished solar modules on site, too.

SolarWorld Vice President Bob Beisner breaks down the 350 expected hires by skill level.

Bob Beisner “On the administrative, engineering, and some of the technical areas, that’ll be about a hundred jobs. The other 250 jobs will be on the production operations side.”

Beisner says some positions may only require a high school education.

The solar business has weathered some stock market bumps, as Germany, a huge market, prepares to cut incentives.

But Beisner says the company is confident of future growth in the US, in places like California, Colorado, New Jersey, and Ontario in Canada.