COLUMBUS – Semiconductor manufacturer Intel has chosen a site near New Albany as the future home for what company and state officials say will be the most advanced computer chip manufacturing facilities in the world, and which will help the U.S. retain its role as one of the world’s leading makers of the vital high-tech components.
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Intel plans to invest more than $20 billion to build two factories, eventually employing 3,000 workers, on a 926-acre site in Licking County, according to an announcement from Gov. Mike DeWine’s office Friday morning.
The factories, which are slated to be completed by 2025, will be designed for what the company calls the “Angstrom era,” using materials processed on the atomic level to the most advanced technologies, resulting in an increased American share of the global semiconductor supply chain, DeWine said.
“Today, we take an important step toward our goal to rebalance global chipmaking capacity and help boost production to meet the surging demand for advanced semiconductors…We expect Intel Ohio will become one of the largest semiconductor manufacturing sites in the world over the next decade,” CEO Pat Gelsinger said.
The U.S. share of global semiconductor production capacity has dropped from nearly 40% in 1990 to only 12% in 2020 and is projected to fall to 10% by 2030, DeWine said.
“U.S. dominance in semiconductor manufacturing has been dwindling for decades, and it’s both an economic and national security concern,” U.S. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said in a statement.
A shortage of semiconductors caused by disruptions at production facilities overseas and transport problems has led to supply chain disruptions that have crippled major sectors of the economy, causing delays in the delivery of consumer goods, such as cell phones and new vehicles.
But one analyst says making more chips in the U.S. won’t entirely protect the industry because they will still be sent to Asia for assembling and packaging.
“Today’s announcement is monumental news for the state of Ohio,” DeWine said. “Intel’s new facilities will be transformative for our state, creating thousands of good-paying jobs in Ohio manufacturing strategically vital semiconductors.”
Intel Ohio facilities will be the largest single private sector company investment in Ohio’s history, generating more than 20,000 jobs in the state, DeWine said.
That number includes 3,000 direct Intel jobs, which are expected to pay an average of $135,000 per year, as well as 7,000 construction jobs and tens of thousands of additional indirect and support jobs including contracted positions, electricians, engineers, and secondary jobs in restaurants, healthcare, housing and entertainment, adding $2.8 billion to Ohio’s annual gross state product, DeWine said.
DeWine’s office says more than 140 existing Ohio businesses are already Intel suppliers and the project is expected to bring additional new businesses to Ohio to support the supply chain.