Intel commits $20B to build at least two semiconductor fabrication plants on a 1,000-acre site by 2025, employing at least 3,000 people in New Albany, Ohio

As part of an effort to regain its position as a leading maker of semiconductors amidst a global chip shortage …

TIME 2022-01-21 Alana Semuels

Context & Ripple Effects

Ohio’s selection followed an eight-month recruitment effort built around incentives and sustainability commitments, turning a regional economic-development campaign into a concrete manufacturing commitment from Intel.

The announcement also began a buildout whose execution depended on more than Intel’s capital: later coverage tied a groundbreaking postponement to federal-policy uncertainty and documented acute local construction-labor needs.

First-order effects

Intel commits to develop at least two New Albany fabrication plants and to create at least 3,000 jobs, making Ohio a named site in its effort to restore semiconductor leadership.
Ohio’s incentive-backed recruitment effort gains a major industrial project against which the state and Intel will be judged on delivery.

Second-order effects

Local construction employers must compete for the 7,000 workers later identified as necessary for the build during a regional building boom, adding labor availability to Intel’s execution risk.
Federal-policy uncertainty can affect the project’s construction cadence, as Intel’s later delayed groundbreaking showed, even while the company maintained its intent to build.

Third-order effects

Intel’s later move toward a $28B Ohio One project and the eventual delay of its first factory to 2030 show how announced fab capacity can remain unavailable for years after capital is committed.
Large semiconductor projects are becoming joint tests of corporate financing, public incentives, policy certainty, and regional construction capacity rather than stand-alone factory investments.

The trend: Semiconductor capacity is increasingly shaped by the long lag between fab announcements and operational production.

Discussion

@jonfortt Jon Fortt on x
I spoke with @intel CEO @PGelsinger this morning about the $INTC $20B chip fab commitment in Ohio. Site is within a 3-hour drive of 5 other states. Follow-on economic impact of such a site is huge for the Midwest. @SquawkCNBC https://twitter.com/...
@bdsams Brad Sams on x
This might seem like an odd location but Facebook, AWS, and Google all have data centers in this exact location...so power, water, connectivity, is all setup https://twitter.com/...
@govmikedewine @govmikedewine on x
I am happy to confirm that my administration has been working closely with @Intel to bring its most advanced semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the world to Ohio. This new #IntelOhio partnership will transform our state! #BuiltForThis https://intelinohio.com/ @LtGovHusted …
@ltgovhusted Lt. Governor Jon Husted on x
“It used to be assembly line work, now it's tech work. It's a lot more enjoyable kind of manufacturing—clean, tech-oriented, higher-paying. These are the kinds of manufacturing jobs that are part of the modern economy.” -Lt. Governor @JonHusted #IntelOhio https://time.com/...
@mgsiegler M.G. Siegler on x
Is this the eventual site for the plot of Ready Player One? https://twitter.com/...
@alanasemuels @alanasemuels on x
EXCLUSIVE: Intel is building ‘the largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet’ in New Albany, Ohio, CEO Pat Gelsinger tells me, establishing ‘the Silicon Heartland’ to increase domestic chip making. https://time.com/...
@thedailyseeker @thedailyseeker on x
“The chip maker says it will build at least two semiconductor fabrication plants, or fabs, on the 1,000-acre site, where Intel will research, develop, and manufacture its most cutting-edge computer chips, employing at least 3,000 people.” https://time.com/...
@chrisbriem @chrisbriem on x
This reminds me of the creation of the “Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse” in 1999 which ostensibly was to create a Pittsburgh-cluster of chip design firms, but really the goal was to create from almost nothing a chip manufacturing industry here. A thread on tech in Pittsburgh: 1/ ht…
@ustechworkers @ustechworkers on x
Most of these jobs will go to foreign workers (predominantly Indian nationals) brought in via the H-1B visa program. Intel is a notorious exploiter of H-1B visas. Not sure how this is a “win” for Columbus, OH when none of your local people will be hired for these jobs. https://tw…
@aaron_renn Aaron M. Renn on x
Intel is building a $20 billion chip plant that will employ 3,000 outside of Columbus, Ohio. A huge win for the city and state and the Midwest. Most chip plants have been in places like Arizona. https://www.dispatch.com/...
@stshank Stephen Shankland on x
Intel's $100 billion ‘megafab’ in Ohio (though only $20B committed so far) will be world's largest chipmaking plant, CEO @pgelsinger says. It's a centerpiece of Intel's effort to restore its glory and the US chipmaking business. https://www.cnet.com/...
@bsrivastava Bobby Srivastava on x
“Our expectation is that this becomes the largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet. We helped to establish the Silicon Valley. Now we're going to do the #SiliconHeartland.” — Intel Corporation CEO Pat Gelsinger https://time.com/...
@amccarthyny @amccarthyny on x
We have plans to bring chip plant(s) to New York and reinvigorate our middle class and graduating college students. Much more to come here! https://twitter.com/...
@hassankhan @hassankhan on x
Federalism and the zero-sum race amongst states via incentives really hurts our ability to build local knowledge networks by sprawling industries across the country. https://twitter.com/...
@ben_orner Ben Orner on x
.@TIME has the scoop on some big details of Intel's future computer chip campus in New Albany, which Gov. DeWine will announce tomorrow at 2. -$20b, 1k acres, 2 chip plants, 3k jobs by '25 -Largest in world -N.A. beat 37 other choices -"Silicon Heartland" https://time.com/...
@jmborchardt Jackie Borchardt on x
“New Albany today versus the high-tech mega manufacturing center of the heartland in five years? Yea, it's going to be unrecognizable.” - Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger to ⁦@TIME⁩ https://time.com/...
@emmajune Emma Barker on x
“Our expectation is that this becomes the largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet,” Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told TIME “We helped to establish the Silicon Valley, now we're going to do the Silicon Heartland."https://time.com/ ...
@themindscourge @themindscourge on x
New Albany is very nice, I've there. It's already a data center hub, but this investment is life-changing; NA will be unrecognizable. https://time.com/...
@karenkasler Karen Kasler on x
We'll get more details tomorrow, but Intel's CEO says of the chip manufacturing plant planned for New Albany in central Ohio, picked out of 38 possible sites: “Our expectation is that this becomes the largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet.” https://time.com/...
@steakandchickn @steakandchickn on x
“Wall Street analysts are skeptical of Gelsinger's strategy. They say that Intel's previous attempts to be a foundry have failed, and that it's fallen too far behind to catch up.” A lot of Wall Street is going to look really, really silly in under 24 months. Good read though. htt…

Chronicles