$23 million solar manufacturing facility to create 150 new jobs in Mount Jackson

MOUNT JACKSON, Va. (WHSV) — A $23 million investment is headed to Mount Jackson in the form of a new solar facility.

The manufacturing plant from MSolar, a Virginia-based startup is expected to create 150 new jobs to the region and bring solar energy operations to Mount Jackson. The company says it will create dozens of jobs and spur economic growth across the wider area.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger announced last Thursday in a press release that the facility will be 56,000 square feet and will produce high-efficiency solar modules designed for large-scale energy projects.

MSolar CEO Michael O’Connor said the investment will bring “blue-collar-type jobs” with hourly wages that are “a lot higher than what is normally down there right now,” with starting wages ranging from mid-$20s to upward of $40 or $50 per hour for more technical work.

In a statement included in Spanberger’s release, Jay Langston, the executive director of Shenandoah Valley Partnership, said “MSolar’s decision to grow in the Shenandoah Valley is a testament to our region’s strong workforce, supply chain, and ability to serve the next generation of American manufacturing.”

O’Connor said he plans to have a job fair in the future for when the facility opens, and the hiring process could begin as soon as late summer or early fall.

“We’ll open up with the first shift,” O’Connor said. “It all depends on, you know, right now, we’re waiting on the manufacturer of the robotic line to get back to us with when the final shipment dates are,” he said.

Domestic manufacturing is important as it creates new jobs and is bringing back manufacturing that’s been lost in this country.

“It creates excellent jobs, and where there’s jobs, there’s growth, and the Shenandoah Valley has seen a lot of that go away,” he said. “It’s absolutely a great thing to bring manufacturing back to the United States.”

Beyond jobs, O’Connor said, this investment is an opportunity to take unnecessary stress off local workers who may have longer commutes to jobs outside of the area.

“In Shenandoah County, most people that we’ve talked to have to get in their car and drive anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour, two hours, every day,” he said. “That kills family life [when] you’re traveling just to get a good-paying job.”

O’Connor said this factory will represent the first step toward MSolar’s long-term goal of expanding its reach to tackle even more technology and energy projects.