One Year of Solar Turbines in Wamego: From Transition to Global Energy Production

By: The Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation (PCEDC) | 10/2/2026

One year ago, a major manufacturing transition was taking place in Wamego. Today, turbines made by a highly skilled Wamego workforce are helping deliver reliable energy solutions to customers around the world.

In August 2025, Solar Turbines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc. headquartered in San Diego, California, officially took over the former Caterpillar Work Tools facility in Wamego.

What has happened in the year since is a remarkable economic development success story.

Solar Turbines successfully transitioned approximately 220 employees into the new operation and made a multimillion-dollar investment in the Wamego facility and its workforce. That investment included retraining employees to manufacture an entirely different line of products, retrofitting the existing plant and bringing in new equipment to support Solar Turbines’ manufacturing operations.

And the transition moved quickly.

Rather than spending years converting the facility and preparing a new workforce, Solar Turbines began putting its newly trained employees to work almost immediately. The first turbine built in Wamego was shipped in January 2026, just months after Solar Turbines took over the facility.

By August 2026, the Wamego operation had reached its one-year anniversary with turbines being manufactured and shipped to customers.

Building the Future of Energy in Wamego

Solar Turbines’ Wamego workforce plays an important role in the company’s mission to provide reliable energy solutions for customers.

The facility manufactures products including the PGM130 and Titan™ 350 gas turbine, bringing advanced energy manufacturing to Wamego and giving local employees the opportunity to build products serving customers around the world.

These turbine solutions support a wide range of industries, including utilities and data centers, where dependable energy is essential.

That connection is particularly significant as demand for reliable power continues to grow. Products manufactured by Wamego employees are part of the infrastructure that helps customers meet their energy needs—connecting the work being done on the factory floor in Wamego to critical energy needs far beyond Kansas.

Turning Uncertainty into Opportunity

The success of Solar Turbines in Wamego is even more meaningful because of how the story began.

In June 2024, Caterpillar announced plans to close its Work Tools facility in Wamego. The potential loss of a major employer and hundreds of jobs created significant uncertainty for employees, families and the community.

But the facility ultimately found a new future within the Caterpillar family.

Solar Turbines’ decision to take over the Wamego operation preserved an experienced manufacturing workforce while creating an opportunity to apply that expertise to a completely different product. Instead of losing the jobs and manufacturing capabilities that had been developed in Wamego, the community gained a new manufacturing mission.

The building stayed. The workforce stayed. But the product—and the future—changed.

Investing in People, the Plant and New Capabilities

One of the most impressive elements of the transition has been the scale of Solar Turbines’ investment.

The approximately 220 employees who transitioned into the operation already had years of manufacturing experience, but producing gas turbines required new knowledge, processes and skills.

Solar Turbines invested millions of dollars not only in retraining the existing workforce, but also in retrofitting the Wamego facility and installing new equipment needed for turbine manufacturing.

That investment transformed the existing Work Tools plant into a facility capable of supporting Solar Turbines’ sophisticated manufacturing operations.

It also demonstrates the value of Wamego’s existing manufacturing infrastructure. Rather than starting from scratch, Solar Turbines was able to build upon an established facility and an experienced workforce, investing in both to create a new manufacturing operation.

The result is a workforce with expanded technical capabilities and a modernized facility producing advanced energy technology.

From Wamego to the World

There is something remarkable about the transformation that took place in just one year.

In August 2025, employees were beginning the transition to a new operation while the facility was being retrofitted and equipped for its new manufacturing mission.

By January 2026, the first Wamego-built turbine had been shipped.

By August, the facility had completed its first year as a Solar Turbines operation, with turbines being manufactured and shipped to customers.

This is more than a successful business transition. It is an example of what can happen when a company invests in an existing workforce and community—and when employees embrace the opportunity to learn something new.

For Wamego, the outcome is significant: approximately 220 jobs transitioned, millions of dollars invested in the workforce and facility, a major manufacturing plant retained and modernized, and a new product line connected to the growing global demand for reliable energy.

And for the employees who make these products every day, there is an even more tangible result: they are building advanced energy technology right here in Wamego, Kansas.

A Success Worth Celebrating

Economic development is often measured in jobs, capital investment and new business announcements. Those measures matter.

But sometimes the best economic development stories are about preserving what a community already has while creating something new from it.

Solar Turbines’ first year in Wamego is one of those stories.

A facility that once faced closure now has a new purpose. An experienced workforce facing uncertainty has new opportunities. Millions of dollars have been invested in retraining employees, retrofitting the facility and equipping it for a new generation of manufacturing. And products manufactured in Wamego are helping customers meet critical energy needs across industries around the world.

One year later, the result is clear: Wamego didn’t just retain a manufacturing facility—it gained a new chapter in its manufacturing story.

Congratulations to the entire Solar Turbines Wamego team on an outstanding first year, and especially to the employees whose hard work made this transition possible.

From Wamego, Kansas, to the world—reliable energy is being built here.