IE solar-power company's success creates jobs

LOMA LINDA, Calif. (KABC) -- There's no shortage of sunshine in the Inland Empire. But there is a shortage of jobs. The solar-power industry is powering the job market, with one company planning to create more than 150 new jobs.

Solar panels are going up on homes all around Southern California. As more people buy them, companies like horizon solar power need more people to sell them.

Brittainy Wilson just got hired by Horizon Solar Power a few weeks ago. It's important because her husband is out of work.

"It is a struggle, with my experience as being staying home for five years, my resume has a gap in it. And going back it's not always easy," said Wilson.

And pretty soon there could be many more people hired by this company.

Horizon Solar says their call center in Redlands just isn't big enough anymore for a business that's is booming.

"We had one guy two years ago, and now we have 41 people on the phone," said Sean Bober, Horizon Solar.

And they're expanding even further. They're already moving into a building in Hemet, where they'll be adding more than 150 new jobs. The building has been empty since another company moved its call center out about four years ago.

"They had actually let go of a lot of their people to outsource those jobs to another country, so it's kind of an emotional thing because we're able to come back in there and actually employ a lot of these people," said Bober. "We've actually already employed two of the people that used to work in that call center."

"If solar is going to be a job generator anywhere, it should be in the Inland Empire given our sunny skies and outlying deserts," said economist John Husing.

Horizon Solar says they hope to have their call center up and running within a month. There will be two job fairs on Wednesday, June 18 and Saturday, June 21 at 3570 West Florida Avennue in Hemet. Both start at 10 a.m.