Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) revealed plans January 21 to build a pair of semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Licking County, OH. The company says it will invest more than $20 billion in the initial construction as well as promised another $100 million for partnerships with Ohio universities, community colleges, and the U.S. National Science Foundation to help develop the talent necessary to keep the facilities fully productive and fund collaborative research projects.
Construction of the two initial factories – Intel’s first new manufacturing facilities in 40 years – should begin late this year. Production operations should ensue in 2025. The facilities will reside within a campus of nearly 1,000 acres just outside of Columbus, OH; the site could support as many as eight fabs, Intel stated. The company predicts the initial development and implementation phase will create 3,000 jobs with Intel and 7,000 construction jobs over the course of the build. Longer term, creation and implementation of fab resources could support “tens of thousands of additional local long-term jobs across a broad ecosystem of suppliers and partners,” Intel asserted.
The first such partners include Air Products, Applied Materials, LAM Research, and Ultra Clean Technology, all of whom have revealed plans to set up shop in the area to support the buildout.
In addition to producing products for Intel, the facilities’ capacity will provide resources for the company’s new foundry business, Intel Foundry Services (IFS).
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“The impact of this mega-site investment will be profound,” said Keyvan Esfarjani, Intel senior vice president of Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Operations. “A semiconductor factory is not like other factories. Building this semiconductor mega-site is akin to building a small city, which brings forth a vibrant community of supporting services and suppliers. Ohio is an ideal location for Intel’s U.S. expansion because of its access to top talent, robust existing infrastructure, and long history as a manufacturing powerhouse. The scope and pace of Intel’s expansion in Ohio, however, will depend heavily on funding from the CHIPS Act.”
The CHIPS Act – formally, the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act – would provide $52 billion for domestic semiconductor production and incentives to invest in new fabs in the U.S. It also would create a National Semiconductor Technology Center. It is part of the larger U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) that the Senate passed last June. The bill has yet to be approved by the House.
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