A grand day in Porterville
Friday, June 2, 2017, could go down as a historic day in the City of Porterville.
On that day Greenpower Motor Company broke ground for its electric-powered bus manufacturing facility near the Municipal Airport.
Greenpower has the potential of being one of the biggest things to hit Porterville since the Walmart Distribution Center opened 25 years ago, or Rockwell International opened a plant here more than 40 years ago.
It is not just a manufacturing plant coming here, it is the future and in a state pushing green energy, it fits in nicely.
Greenpower will only build electric-powered buses and some day may even produce electricpowered vans. It already has on order more than 30 buses, including 10 for the City of Porterville thanks to the California Air Resources Air Board and the Cap and Trade program.
It is that electric component which makes Greenpower’s impact so great. We live in an era and in a state in which anything green powered is important and Greenpower Motor Company will do very well with that. Being a hub for green-powered vehicles will place Porterville on the map, similar to what happened when Walmart — then an emerging retail giant — selected Porterville for the site of its first distribution center in California. Not only will Greenpower bring positive attention to the community, its goal, according to company officials, is to bring as many of its parts suppliers as possible to Porterville, including the manufacturer of the batteries. All those supply companies will need workers as well.
During Friday’s groundbreaking, it was obvious that Greenpower had found a home in Porterville. The company officials stressed they were looking for a partner and after searching across the nation, they found that partner in Porterville. It was that partnership which sealed the deal.
We commend the city staff and city council who all worked tirelessly to make Greenpower feel it had a partner here and to ensure that company made Porterville its home.
Welcome to Porterville, Greenpower.