Dive Brief:
- Micron Technology Inc. has broken ground on the expansion of its Manassas, Virginia, semiconductor manufacturing plant in an effort to increase production by 2030, which will create approximately 1,100 jobs in the next decade, reported Inside Nova.
- Manassas issued a special-use permit to Micron that will allow it to build the facility to 117 feet tall; the city ordinance only allows buildings up to 75 feet tall. The company has hired 20 construction workers on the 123-acre site, but eventually will need 1,200 workers, John Schafer, Micron’s senior manager for facilities and construction, told Inside Nova. Initial work of expanding should be completed in fall 2019, with production starting in the first half of 2020.
- The new facility's $3 billion price tag represents one of the “largest manufacturing investments in the history of Virginia,” Gov. Ralph Northram said in a release in August when the project was first announced. Micron will, pending the Virginia General Assembly's approval, be eligible to receive a $70 million grant for site preparation and facility costs. The city and utility partners also are providing infrastructure upgrades and other incentives for the expansion.
Dive Insight:
Micron joins a list of companies investing a billion-plus dollars in manufacturing operations. Auto manufacturers Toyota and Mazda broke ground just last month on a $1.6 billion plant in Huntsville, Alabama, which is the fourth assembly plant in the state and is expected to roll out 300,000 vehicles each year. Toyota and Mazda will receive $700 million between state and local agencies in the form of ad valorem tax abatement; breaks on local property taxes; investment and job tax credits; and help with infrastructure.
South Korean company SK Innovation also announced last month a $1.67 billion investment in a 2-million-square-foot lithium-ion battery factory in Jackson County, Georgia. Construction will be completed in two 1-million-square-foot phases, beginning in 2019 and wrapping up in 2022.
Although Georgia has remained mum on whether it offered SK Innovation financial incentives for moving there, outgoing Gov. Nathan Deal said he and Governor-elect Brian Kemp will “work closely with the company as it creates the largest single investment and job-creating project announced in the state’s history.”
Other notable manufacturing facilities underway include Braidy Industries’ $1.6 billion aluminum rolling mill project in Ashland, Kentucky, and Foxconn Technology Group’s $10 billion Wisconsin campus.
