Wednesday, February 18, 2009

State loans Konarka $5M for New Bedford plant

By Efrain Viscarolasaga

Lowell-based thin film photovoltaic developer Konarka Technologies Inc. has landed $5 million in new state funding from the Emerging Technology Fund of Massachusetts Development Finance Agency and the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust’s Business Expansion Initiative.

According to officials, the funding is related to the company’s recently opened production facility in New Bedford, though details were not provided. Konarka opened the facility last October at the site of Polaroid Corp.’s former advanced technology development and manufacturing center.

Since its founding in 2001, Konarka has raised more than $100 million in funding from a variety of sources, including venture capital (3i Group, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Good Energies Investments), industry (Chevron Corp., Total Gas & Power Ltd.) and the state of Massachusetts.

Konarka employs 70 people.

The Emerging Technology Fund of Massachusetts Development Finance Agency, or MassDevelopment, has helped a number of local companies build new facilities in the region, including Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s new plant in Devens, Woburn-based Luminus Devices Inc. and Tyngsborough-based Beacon Power Corp.