Micron to spend up to $100B on chip plant and bring 9,000 high-paying jobs to NY town

Chipmaker Micron Technology revealed plans on Tuesday to spend up to $100 billion on a massive semiconductor plant in upstate New York that the company said will create thousands of six-figure jobs.

The facility in the Syracuse suburb of Clay will directly employ up to 9,000 people over the next 20-plus years to manufacture semiconductors, the crucial computer parts used in everything from cell phones to cars. 

Construction on the project’s first of four phases will begin in 2024, with the facility expected to employ 3,000 people when it opens, according to the Boise-based company. Production at the facility is expected to start in 2025. 

Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra told Syracuse.com that the upstate investment is the largest in its history — and that the average employee at the plant will earn a salary of more than $100,000. 

The 1,300-acre facility will also generate about 40,000 outside jobs for contractors, suppliers and others, according to the company. 

“This project is a dramatic turning point for a region that has faced decades of lost manufacturing jobs” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a statement. “It will put upstate New York on the map in a way we haven’t seen in generations.”

New York battled at least four other states including Texas for the plant — and won out with an offer of tax incentives of at least $6 billion over the next two decades, according to Syracuse.com. 

A spokesperson for Micron disputed the $6 billion windfall, saying the tax incentives were worth “at least $5.5 billion over the course of the project.”

News of the new plant comes as US lawmakers push to reduce the American economy’s reliance on overseas chipmakers. Many of the world’s largest chip manufacturers are located in Taiwan and mainland China, raising the possibility that a blockade or war in Asia would be disastrous for both the US economy and national security, since semiconductors are also used in military hardware like missiles and tanks. 

In August, President Joe Biden signed a $280 billion package called the CHIPS Act, which includes $52 billion to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing. 

Mehrotra praised Schumer and Biden for passing the CHIPS act, as well as Gov. Kathy Hochul and Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon for arranging state and local partnerships.

“This historic leading-edge memory megafab in Central New York will deliver benefits beyond the semiconductor industry by strengthening U.S. technology leadership as well as economic and national security, driving American innovation and competitiveness for decades to come,” Mehrotra said.

Micron shares closed up 4.3% at $53.96 on Tuesday.

Micron is not the only chipmaker to announce a major US expansion this year. Intel announced plans in January to spend $20 billion on two chip factories in Ohio that it said will employ 3,000 people and create 7,000 construction jobs.