BUILDING A BETTER BLADE; Irwin Jacobs intends to take pioneering boat-building technology and use it to make more durable blades for wind turbines.(BUSINESS)

Byline: LIZ FEDOR; STAFF WRITER

Minneapolis businessman Irwin Jacobs just placed his boat business into bankruptcy, but he's already taking action to launch an expansion for another one of his companies.

And he's thinking big.

He plans to manufacture durable wind turbine blades with the same high-tech fiberglass technology that he has used to build more than 85,000 boats.

Within the next three years, Jacobs said, he intends to open three to five factories in the United States to manufacture blades that will generate $450 million to $750 million a year in revenue.

"It's a revolutionary new product," said Jacobs, who keeps a chunk of a wind blade with 65 layers of compressed fiberglass in his 29th-floor IDS Center office.

Minnesota is among multiple states being considered for the location of the first factory, expected to employ 500 to 600 people. Jacobs said he'll choose the site within 30 days.

"Minnesota would like to have us," said Jacobs. "Because I live here that would be my preference, …