Taglia adds that putting large wind turbines on farmland could be an additional source of revenue for farmers, up to $6,000 per wind turbine per year for each landowner.

With a better return on investment and a sustainable design, it seems that for turbines, bigger really is better. Wisconsin manufacturers are now beginning to get the hint. Tower Tech Systems in Manitowoc, Wis., recently signed a contract to build towers to support 2,500-kilowatt turbines. Tower Tech wants to be seen as an expert in creating larger towers to support utility-scale turbines and plans to build two more plants in 2009 to continue expansion into the large system industry. Tower Tech is one of several manufacturing companies in Wisconsin currently making components for large wind turbines.

Wisconsin’s northeastern region is especially primed for building large turbine components as many manufacturing companies there are already manufacturing large scale and complex products. In a New North B2B article, a representative for Bassett Mechanical in Kaukauna, Wis., which builds a component of the turbine base, says Bassett, “didn’t have to gear up [for building the component] … it’s not uncommon for us to do that sort of fabrication for other applications.”

Like any good Midwesterner knows: If you build it, they will come. With the wind industry beginning to take off on the manufacturing side, it is only natural that the service side will follow. Lakeshore Technical College in Manitowoc now offers an associate degree program, “Wind Energy Technology,” which trains students for careers as wind turbine technicians.

There is also a new wind course for engineering professionals at UW-Madison, “Fundamentals of Wind Power Plant Design,” that features topics such as wind energy principles and wind generation machinery.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, 16.5 percent of Wisconsin's workforce is employed in manufacturing-related jobs. As some traditional manufacturing jobs are on the way out, green-manufacturing jobs could breathe new life into Wisconsin's economy. The Energy Center of Wisconsin estimates 2,600 new jobs could be created by investing in renewable energies, mainly wood and wind.

Production of wind turbines and construction of wind farms may turn out to be this much-needed breath for a dying manufacturing economy as rising energy costs and environmental concerns leave Americans searching for alternatives.

It's obvious that even in a less-than-blustery state like Wisconsin, wind is in.

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