Posted on 02/20/2004 5:06:51 AM PST by Born Conservative
HIGH TECH TURNAROUND WRIGHT TWP. - During the next four years, Fairchild Semiconductor will invest $143 million in its Mountain Top-area silicon wafer production facility, adding 320 jobs and maintaining 292 others.
The growth surge is a reversal for the Crestwood Industrial Park plant, which has struggled through the multi-year technology industry downturn.
Even with the employment boost, Fairchild's employment level will be far below the approximately 950 people it employed in 1998, when it was part of Harris Semiconductor.
In January 2003, the company shifted production at the local facility from 6-inch to 8-inch silicon wafers and - over several months - decreased its work force by about 20 percent. Silicon wafers are used to produce computer chips.
Now, the company is ready to expand the 8-inch wafer facility by refurbishing a 15,000-square-foot area and bringing in additional equipment.
The jobs are high-technology positions at salaries ranging from $35,000 line workers to engineers with doctorates, earning $100,000 annually.
Fairchild is not accepting applications yet.
Roger Bishop, director of human resources - global operations, said the 120 to 140 employees who were laid off in 2003 would have a first shot at the new jobs. But, some of the workers might have retired or moved to other companies, he said. He could not say how many laid-off workers might choose to return.
"Our agreement with (the union) is a three-year recall. They will certainly have the right of first refusal."
Technology has advanced considerably from the industry's first 1-inch silicon wafers. Bishop estimates the 8-inch process will be used for at least 40 more years. A 12-inch wafer does exist, but construction of a manufacturing facility to produce that size wafer would cost several billion dollars. It is questionable that the return on the larger wafer would cover the start-up costs, he said.
Dennis Yablonsky, secretary of the state Department of Community and Economic Development, attended Thursday morning's press conference on behalf of Gov. Ed Rendell.
The state is helping with some financial backing, including a $1 million Opportunity Grant paid over two years; $575,000 in job creation tax credits; $250,000 for training; $3.5 million in loans for infrastructure development and machinery; taxable bond financing through the state Economic Development Financing Authority; and a $5 million loan through the state Industrial Development Authority.
"Fairchild Semiconductor's decision to expand its current facility creates new jobs and helps to solidify Pennsylvania's position as a world technology leader," Yablonsky said.
Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry President Steve Barrouk sees the expansion as an opportunity to reinforce relationships with local colleges, including Wilkes University's engineering program and Luzerne County Community College's electrical department.
Barrouk will investigate the potential to lure complementary companies to the area.
Fairchild began as an RCA plant in 1960. That same year, Wilkes University agreed to establish graduate programs in physics and mathematics to improve the area's education programs. RCA was acquired by General Electric, which later sold the facility to the Harris Corp. In 1999, that company spun off its Harris Semiconductor division, which was purchased for about $700 million by Intersil, a subsidiary of Sterling Holding Co.
Intersil sold the company to Fairchild Semiconductor International for $338 million in 2001.
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