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The Austin-American Statesman reports that HelioVolt has enacted "a 'modest' reduction in its workforce," cutting about 15 jobs. The copper-indium-gallium-(di)selenide thin-film PV company "made the cuts because of a weak economy and because the company is shifting away from pure research and toward becoming a manufacturer of solar power products," according to the story.
HelioVolt founder/CEO B.J. "Billy" Stanbery told the paper that the cuts were "a natural consequence of the transition of the company from being development-oriented to ramping up for manufacturing operations. We have had to rebalance our workforce in a tough economic environment where we need to be careful with our cash."
The report also noted that Stanbery said "the company will have its factory qualified to begin production this year" at its 122,400 square-foot, 20-MW capacity plant in Austin, which officially opened in October of last year.
At the time of the ribbon cutting, the company said it would hire 160 employees to work at the facility once it was fully ramped, and the number would grow to as much as 300 by the end of 2009.
