Giant $20bn Micron chip factory slated for NY

In what is being hailed as a major boost for domestic chip production and the US economy, the new ‘megafab’ will see up to $100bn of investment from Micron over the coming decades, with $20bn assigned for the first phase of development. The company says the megfab will be the cornerstone of its strategy to ramp up domestic production of Micron’s DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips to 40 per cent of its global output within the next 10 years.

Micron also claims the facility will support 50,000 jobs across the state of New York, with around 9,000 of those being high-paid jobs with the company itself. Onondaga County, where the megfab will be located, has spent decades trying to attract a major manufacturing employer, accumulating around 1,300 acres over the years for the White Pine site that Micron will now develop.

“Micron will leverage the diverse, highly educated and skilled talent in New York as we look to build our workforce in the Empire State,” said Micron president and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra. “This historic leading-edge memory megafab in Central New York will deliver benefits beyond the semiconductor industry by strengthening US technology leadership as well as economic and national security, driving American innovation and competitiveness for decades to come.”

The final decision on the location of the megafab came off the back of US President Joe Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act, signed into law in August. The $280bn stimulus package for the US semiconductor industry is designed to boost research and innovation, along with reshoring chip production, which is largely concentrated in East Asia today.

“Micron’s investment will make New York’s semiconductor corridor into a major engine powering our economy and will supply ‘Made in New York’ microchips to everything from electric vehicles, 5G, and defence technology to personal computers and smartphones,” said NY senator and Democratic Senate Leader, Chuck Schumer. 

“This is our Erie Canal moment. Just as the original Erie Canal did centuries ago, this 21^st Century Erie Canal will flow through the heart of Central New York and redefine Upstate New York’s place in the global economy for generations to come.”

According to Micron, the site could eventually include four 600,000 square foot cleanrooms, for a total of 2.4 million square feet of cleanroom space – the size of approximately 40 American football fields. Site preparation work will start in 2023, with construction getting underway in 2024.