JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville made an international footprint with one of the world's largest solar panel manufacturers opening its first United States factory at the Cecil Commerce Center.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday morning marked the opening of JinkoSolar's only U.S. factory, which is creating new jobs in Jacksonville.
"When you work on something really hard and you get it, you just kind of take a deep breath," Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said. "You're glad you got it."
Curry said there's a lot that went into this deal, such as city and state incentives with the promise of 200 new jobs with an average salary of about $45,500 by the end of the year.
JinkoSolar is a China-based company that manufactures solar panels, which have become a popular energy source around the world.
"We are incredibly impressed with Jacksonville and the state with the ability to get something like this going so quickly," said JinkoSolar General Manager Nigel Cockroft. "We broke ground less than a year ago and we're in production already. That couldn't happen in very many places."
JinkoSolar is hiring for positions including equipment engineers and production workers. If you have applied or are thinking about applying, you may need to be aware of who's contacting you about that job.
On JinkoSolar's corporate website, under job opportunities, there is a disclaimer that the company's name has been used in an internet hiring scam. It mentions some job candidates were getting emails and calls from people claiming to be with the company, asking for personal information such as Social Security numbers. The statement goes on to say the company's recruiters all have corporate emails and would not ask for information using a Gmail account.
JinkoSolar representatives told News4Jax on Tuesday that this scam was reported a couple years ago and should not affect current prospective candidates in Jacksonville.
New positions are posted on popular job search sites such as Indeed, Glassdoor and Ejob.
There's also a job fair scheduled Wednesday. JinkoSolar will be holding open interviews for production line workers from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at CareerSource, located at 215 North Market Street #340, Jacksonville, FL, 32202.
According to JinkoSolar, the requirements for the position include having at least six months of work experience, a high school diploma or GED, and the ability to pass a background check and drug screen.