Chinese solar plant could create 1,000 jobs

EAST FISHKILL — Media reports say a solar company based in China will locate its U.S. headquarters in an abandoned industrial site in New York's Hudson Valley, a move they say could eventually create up to 1,000 jobs. Linuo is expected to invest about $100 million in a manufacturing plant in East Fishkill. Economic officials say the former IBM site in Dutchess County, empty since 2006, has 157 acres and nearly 1 million square feet of space. Linuo expects to add a few hundred jobs in the near-term as it starts warehousing and solar panel assembly. A solar technology company announced in December it would close a Hudson Valley plant that had been open less than a year. That company, SpectraWatt, blamed a steep decline in demand for solar cells.