[Music]
[Steve Smiley-Voiceover] I've always wanted to just do good work, doing good things that improves society.
I am the president and CEO of Heron Wind Manufacturing in Traverse City, Michigan.
[Smiley] We'll have two windmills in the lower level and then two on this ridge north and south.
[Smiley] Entering into the commercial wind industry because the equipment's expensive,
we have pretty large capital needs and so it's quite a challenging endeavor.
[Music]
[Smiley] When the economic crisis hit, the markets all went down. Banks closed their
doors in terms of loaning and assisting small businesses.
[Music]
[Smiley] The polices that President Obama has put forward has been a great benefit to
a small business like mine. Heron Wind recently received a loan that was supported by President Obama.
The loan we got is directly going to help us produce two to three turbines.
[Music]
[James Black] My name is James Black I work for Heron Wind Manufacturing
and I'm their lead turbine technician.
[Smiley] He had actually been interviewing with me for over six months hoping to find
a position. So, it was a great thrill and pleasure to be able to bring him on board.
[Black] It's a big relief because I got a stable job and it makes, makes good money.
[Smiley] The loan we got has helped us sustain 8 to 10 people plus probably a half a dozen
sub suppliers.
[Smiley] You gotta take the slack out of the side cables.
Just yell if your cable gets too tight.
[Jane Sisk] We will be having two wind turbines that will be on our property.
[Smiley] I could see it was one of the best farm parcels in the windiest areas, so we
signed the lease.
[Mark Sisk] It just helps the farmers. The income helps us pay our bills. It would help
the community. I mean, any money that we would make, we would spend in this community.
[Smiley] That's why it's really critical we have leaders like President Obama who are
going to strongly support new and better policies. Our jobs comes from the wind. If you can take
the wind and make jobs, what better thing can you do?
[Music]
