Winds Of Change Bring Jobs To Colorado

(CBS)  It's disheartening, but not surprising, to hear that U.S. companies are moving their manufacturing jobs overseas. But in one area of Colorado, the exact opposite is happening.

A Danish company called Vestas broke ground Wednesday in Brighton, Colo., on the first of three plants it plans to build in the state, a project that will cost $350 million and bring 1,500 new jobs with it.

Vestas is the manufacturer of the large, white wind turbines that have been showing up with increasing frequency on both land and sea.

Mark Maxwell was unemployed for nine months, after 17 years working at a printing factory. Now he works for Vestas building wind turbines for a living, and says the job has changed his life.

"It's been a whole new experience," he told CBS News correspondent Jeff Glor in Part Four of the Early Show series, "Early Across America," which tells stories of hope amid the economic despair sweeping the nation.

And Maxwell's not alone. Other Americans who've worked as electricians, welders and carpenters are now bringing their skills to Vestas, according to the company's human resources director, Kevin Kory.

The amount of electricity those turbines can produce, even on a day with low wind, is eye-opening. On a peak day in Denmark, wind energy accounts for all the country's needs. In the U.S., that number is still below one percent. But with each spin of a new turbine, that number increases a little, along with the prospects of new jobs and cleaner energy.

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter is understandably thrilled about the developments.

"These are massive, and if you think about the kind of wind they capture and the kind of homes that can be powered as a result of it, businesses that can be powered, it's a great thing for America," he tells Glor.

For Maxwell, this job has made it possible for him to support his family of four during these tough economic times. But it's also given him a chance to feel like he's making a difference.

"I'm doing something that will benefit my kids, and their kids, on down the road," Maxwell says.