Micron to build new plant in Boise: What does it mean for Idaho?

BYLINE: Ken Dey, The Idaho Statesman, Boise


Mar. 4--Micron Technology said Monday that it plans to build a new fabrication plant in Boise.

The expansion wouldn't add many new jobs, but would help to secure the company's existing jobs, a Micron executive said.

But company officials have no definite timeline for building a new plant, saying expansion is tied to market conditions and other economic factors that would make expansion viable, according to local news reports.

Mark Durcan, Micron's president and chief operating officer, announced the planned plant -- called a fab -- at a news conference. He said the company would build computer memory on 12-inch, or 300 millimeter, wafers -- a more-efficient size than the 8-inch (200-millimeter) wafers used in Boise now.

Local and state leaders heralded the news as a welcome respite from the negative economic news dominating the nation's headlines.

"Micron has been a great corporate citizen, and we're not at all surprised that Boise remains in the company's future plans," said Jon Hanian, a spokesman for Gov. Butch Otter.

Hanian said Micron has been talking with Otter about plans for the new plant but didn't provide any details about timing or cost.

"Micron's announcement ... is a tremendous vote of confidence in Boise and the state of Idaho, and great news for our local economy," Mayor Dave Bieter said in a statement.

The news comes after months of intense speculation about the future of Micron in Boise. The company has been reeling from competition and low prices for its memory products.

Micron Chairman and CEO Steve Appleton told shareholders at the company's annual meeting in December that Boise was a leading candidate for a new plant.

"We are in the middle of an analysis on where we do a 300mm DRAM (dynamic random access memory) fab, and, obviously, the infrastructure is here, and it is very advantageous for us to continue to reuse," he said at the time.

Companies like Micron have been switching to 300 millimeter wafers because more memory chips can be produced on each wafer, reducing costs. All of Micron's newest plants have been 300 mm. But its Boise location has primarily 200 mm plants.

Micron first hinted at a new $1 billion plant in early 2005. Appleton said at the time that Boise was in the running for the plant. His announcement helped pave the way for Micron to receive significant tax breaks from the Idaho Legislature that year.

Lawmakers capped Micron's property tax value at $800 million and eliminated sales taxes on research and development equipment.

Micron has since done most of its building outside of Boise, including a $3 billion plant in Singapore and expansions in both Lehi, Utah, and Manassas, Va. On Monday, Micron also confirmed it was in talks with Nanya Technology, a Taiwan competitor, about a joint venture that might lead to another plant expansion.

Durcan said Monday that the Boise announcement wasn't related to the discussions with Nanya.

Since 2005, Micron has done some expansion in the Valley. It partnered with a company called Photronics in 2006 to build a new plant east of its Boise operations to build photomasks, which are quartz plates used to make memory chips. Micron also bought one of the two empty Zilog buildings in Nampa to produce image sensors.

But even without a major expansion, Micron already is benefiting from its tax break.

In 2007, Micron had more than $282 million in property tax value exempted. The total value of Micron's property is $1,082,305,000, according to the latest data from the Ada County assessor's office.

Micron announced the expansion at a news conference, but did not invite the Idaho Statesman. The company did not return calls Monday.

Ken Dey: 672-6757

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Geography
Source
Idaho Statesman (Boise)
Article Type
Staff News