Several hundred area officials, Ohio business leaders, Intel executives, media and other guests gathered at AEP Transmission Headquarters on Friday morning for security check-in, then were bused to the Intel factory site about 10 minutes away, past small houses, farms, lines of other warehouses and factories, and infrastructure work already underway.
The chip factory site is a wide-open field of raw dirt, with earthmoving equipment lined up next to white tents set up for the occasion.
At the far end of the main tent, which featured snacks and a jazz band, doors led to an outdoor assemblage of white chairs, stage and a big video screen under a cloudless, sunny sky. The Ohio State University marching band paraded through the tent to start the program. Equipment continued working in the background of the multi-hour event in a rural area recently annexed by New Albany.
Intel announced in January it would build two chip factories, a $20 billion investment, built by 2025 on a 1,000-acre site in Licking County.
Building the factories is expected to require 7,000 construction workers. Once open, they will employ 3,000 at average salaries of around $135,000, according to Intel. Officials have said many of Intel’s suppliers may also move facilities to Ohio.
Credit: Jim Gaines
Credit: Jim Gaines
“We celebrate today a great victory for Ohio but an even greater victory for our country,” Gov. Mike DeWine said.
Ohio’s relationship with Intel will be long-term, and that the project is a demonstration of the company’s faith in Ohioans and the state’s educators, he said.
The company considered 39 other locations before settling on Ohio. Ultimately the site could hold eight factories and related facilities, for a total investment of more than $100 billion, according to Intel, which touts the project as Ohio’s largest-ever private economic development project.
DeWine spoke confidently Friday that the proposed six additional factories will be built.
Intel chief global operations officer Kayvon Esfarjani, Intel’s chief global operations officer, anticipated most of the day’s speeches by thanking all levels of government, state universities, construction unions and many others for speeding the project along.
“Together our teams are working side by side to do something wonderful,” he said. “Building a megasite is like building a small city.”
Those factories will attract more of the company’s parts suppliers to Ohio, Esfarjani said, and promised Intel would become a model of sustainability and environmental concern.
Intel already has 140 parts suppliers in Ohio, and the state is in discussions to bring many more here, said J.P. Nauseef, president and CEO of JobsOhio.
The crowd heard from Intel officials, Ohio politicians and educators. After the ceremonial shoveling of a dirt-pile, the event broke for an hour, followed by more speeches. Biden spoke last.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger spoke of the increasing ubiquity of semiconductors in modern life. They’re vital for remote work, virtual school, telethealth, national defense and more, he said. That’s why they need to be produced domestically, Gelsinger said, touting Intel’s history of research and manufacturing in the United States.
Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said building computer chips domestically is crucial for national security, and predicted the market will more than double to $1.35 trillion by 2030.
But the project will require extensive government-built infrastructure, plus efficient work from construction trades and an educational pipeline from Ohio’s schools, he said.
Ohio promised roughly $2 billion in subsidies for the project, plus a 30-year local property tax abatement.
The company is using a Project Labor Agreement on the construction project, Biden said. That’s a pre-hire agreement between a company and labor unions that sets all terms for a construction job.
The groundbreaking was originally scheduled for July 22, but Intel canceled it as Congress debated the CHIPS Act. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger suggested the company might shift production to Europe without the subsidies in that bill.
Biden signed the CHIPS Act a month ago. As passed, includes $52 billion in subsidies and tax credits for manufacturing computer chips domestically; $200 billion for research into artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum computing and other advanced technology; $11 billion to create 20 “regional technology hubs,” connecting research universities with private companies to promote domestic innovation; and several billion for high-tech workforce training. Intel’s Ohio factories could benefit from all parts of that bill.
Multiple speakers Friday, Democrats and Republicans, called the CHIPS Act crucial to the project. Gelsinger called it “The most seminal piece of industrial policy legislation (since) World War II.”
Biden detailed provisions of the CHIPS Act in his speech, noting that in requires manufacturers receiving funding to pay federal prevailing wages on construction, support high-tech training programs, and manufacture in the United States technology that’s developed here.
Intel is one of several corporations announcing major semiconductor projects since the CHIPS Act’s passage, Biden said.
A recent industry study found that incentives for semiconductor manufacturing could create 280,000 jobs, according to Intel. But those jobs will need trained workers.
To meet Intel’s employee needs, the company announced early this year it would contribute $50 million for higher education programs in Ohio, said Christy Pambianchi, Intel chief people officer. The company reviewed dozens of proposals and has just announced the first phase of that funding, $17.7 million for eight programs, involving collaborations between more than 80 higher education organizations, she said. Those programs are expected to involve more than 9,000 students.
“One third of these students will be from underrepresented groups, and one quarter of them will be women,” Pambianchi said. At least a quarter will get Intel scholarships, she said.
One of those programs will be led by Central State University in Wilberforce, in collaboration with four other schools.
Programs led by other schools include as collaborators many other area institutions, such as Cedarville University, Miami University, Sinclair Community College and the University of Dayton.
In addition, Intel and the National Science Foundation are each putting up $50 million over the next decade for high-tech research and workforce expansion.
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