Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
FLS Energy, a solar energy engineering company that has installed thousands of solar panels across Western North Carolina the last few years, has made the prestigious Inc. 500 list of the 500 fastest growing companies in the U.S. The list is compiled each year by Inc. magazine.
FLS Energy comes in at a stunning #46. I can’t think of another WNC company in recent years that’s show that much growth. The company had revenues of $399,000 in 2007. In 2010, it had revenues of $17.6 million.
Back in 2008, I wrote a story for the Mountain Xpress noting a convergence of factors that would likely power the adoption of solar technology and the growth of solar energy energy companies. A tidbit:
As an affordable and viable alternative-energy source, it seems that solar power has arrived.
A number of factors have contributed to shifting solar energy from what many have considered an experimental, fringe phenomenon to a more mainstream energy source. A 2007 state law is pushing utilities in North Carolina to start deriving a specified percentage of their demand through renewable sources or increased energy efficiency (see below). Substantial state and federal tax credits also loom large in the equation. Meanwhile, technological advances, rising energy costs, widespread concern about global warming and creative marketing strategies have all helped illuminate the potential of sun power.
Not everyone likes the key move – state incentives – that has boosted FLS Energy’s ability to grow. The Libertarian John Locke Foundation just recently wrote an opinion piece about how the solar power incentives are harming taxpayers.
Regardless of your opinion of that, there’s no doubting the growth. The company, on its Twitter feed, says it is hiring.
Thanks to loyal reader Jess for the heads-up.
I worked for the NC Dept of Commerce for 4 years – there are plenty of incentives for traditional corporations and companies that are NOT solar or "green", so the John Locke Foundation is disingenuous with their claim regarding incentives for green companies – to be consistent they should object to all incentives for all companies. Cities, states and federal government provide billions of dollars in incentives for companies, usually based on number of jobs created. NC Commerce provides the One North Carolina Fund and the JDIG fund, incentives for large firms usually that create 50 or more jobs. Since 2005, the state has had a NC Green Business Fund (that was not funded in the 2012 budgets by our current legislature), which has provided support for 50 or so small green businesses. FLS was a recipient of several hundred thousand from the Green Business Fund a couple of years ago, and may have received other funds as well, that's just one I am familiar with, but that's a small amount compared to the millions provided to Google to locate in Caldwell County, for instance.