CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Hemlock Semiconductor Group has qualified 80 Tennessee-based companies to compete for construction contracts at the plant.
The company has a 2012 operation startup date at the $1.2 billion project in Clarksville. Three-hundred construction workers are already on site, with the total construction work force expected to top 1,000 by early 2011.
Hemlock Semiconductor qualifies contractors based on work history, safety record, quality of product, insurance and other business factors.
The 80 Tennessee companies represent about half that have qualified.
The project is one of Tennessee's largest manufacturing investments. It will make polysilicon to support the growing solar industry.