A young Northcentral Wisconsin company is shedding some positive light on our state’s economy.

PDM Solar Inc. in Wausau has announced plans to expand.

Friday PDM got just what they need to get up and running – a $210,000 loan from the Wisconsin Energy Independence Fund. The loan could not have come at a better time.

PDM just secured their first contract worth $1.8 million. They’re expected to supply an Arizona company with solar powered vapor compression air conditioning.

The air conditioning units leave no carbon footprint, which is part of the reason PDM got the WEIF loan to get going.

"We'll be building a factory here in central Wisconsin to manufacture the solar collectors creating additional jobs in the process,” said David Baker, president and founder of PDM Solar, Inc.

Once the factory is built in the next few months, PDM expects to grow from 5 to 13 employees. After that, they expect to boom.

Baker says numerous companies in several countries have expressed interest in the green air conditioning systems. Not only that, but soon the company also plans to apply the same technology to create electricity. With every expansion the company makes, there is more potential good news for local economies.

"We don't see it leaving. We see it growing here,” Baker said. “We expect to have, within the next five years, 200 plus jobs here in the central Wisconsin area."

Wisconsin’s economy should benefit in more ways than just job creation. Baker says they plan to spend about $600,000 on components for their first project alone and are mainly working with Wisconsin companies.