Intel will invest $20 billion in a new computer chip facility in Ohio amid a global shortage of microprocessors used in everything from phones and cars to video games, with plans to grow the massive development in the future, the company announced Friday.
Intel said two planned factories, or fabs, will support its own line of processors as well as its new “foundry” business, which will build chips tailored for other firms. The foundry approach to making chips is currently led by rivals such as the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, and Samsung.
The investment outside Columbus in central Ohio is unique and unlike other forms of economic development, said Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger. The chips built there will not just reduce supply chain pressures, but be part of national security and bring more tech jobs into the region.
The two factories on a 1,000-acre site in Licking County, just east of Columbus, are expected to create 3,000 company jobs and 7,000 construction jobs, and to support tens of thousands of additional jobs for suppliers and partners, the company and local and state officials said Friday.
“A semiconductor factory is not like other factories,” Gelsinger said during a White House event. “It’s more like a small city supporting a vibrant community of services, suppliers and ancillary businesses. You can think about this as a magnet for the entire tech industry.”
