Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Texas Instruments (TI) wants to “put a lot more silicon into the Silicon Slopes,” says Haviv Ilan, the incoming president and CEO of TI.
The tech leader has committed to an $11 billion investment in Utah. According to Gov. Spencer Cox, that’s almost three times the greatest economic investment made in a state by a single company. “This is not something that is just going to benefit us for a year or two. This is something that’s going to benefit us for generations to come,” Cox said during a Wednesday press conference announcing the manufacturing site.
For the past 14 months, TI has been operating in Lehi, Utah, on what was formerly known as the “Micron site.” After months of ramp-up, production at this fabrication plant (fab) officially began in December 2022.
Ilan says the company has been impressed. “We have many fabs around the world, but the team here has shown us everything about innovation, raising the bar, finding solutions,” he said during the press conference. Ilan also mentioned that TI is taking some of the learnings from its Lehi fab to other factories in Texas and beyond.
It was this positive experience that led to TI’s selection of Lehi for a second facility, Ilan said. “Lehi is a great location for our next fab because of its access to skilled talent, robust existing infrastructure and strong community partners,” he continued.Utah was not TI’s only option for the new facility. “It matters that they chose us,” Cox said. “We want to thank our federal partners as well for working on legislation to make this moment possible [and] to make sure that more advanced manufacturing is moving back to the United States.”
In exchange for TI’s investment, the company will receive a post-performance tax credit (EDTIF), said Ryan Starks, executive director at the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity. “We extended an offer of 30 percent of new taxes that the company will pay over 20 years in the form of a refundable tax credit,” Starks said.
Ilan explained that the new fab will produce tens of millions of analog and embedded processing chips daily. These chips will be used in devices like automobile safety systems, thermostats, appliances and smart medical devices. “With the anticipated growth of semiconductors in electronics, particularly in industrial and automotive, and the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, there is no better time to further invest in our internal manufacturing capacity,” he said.
The new fab is expected to bring 800 new jobs to Lehi—on top of the 1,100 employees at TI’s current Lehi facility—with an average salary of $110K. “These are high-tech, well-paying jobs that we will add here, plus a lot of jobs that will be created to support our investment here,” Ilan said.
Recruiting Utah talent for these jobs is already in the works. “TI has a focus on college hiring and we are actively recruiting talent from local universities and community colleges, including the University of Utah, Brigham Young University, Utah Valley University, Mountainland Technical College (MTech) and Salt Lake Community College,” says TI spokesperson Ellen Fishpaw. “Additionally, we provide training and education assistance programs for our Lehi employees to help advance their careers in a way that matches their aspirations and skills.”
During the Wednesday press conference, Cox said Utah will also be preparing. “We’ll be working to upskill our workforce as well—[our] existing workforce—to get these better, higher paying jobs. This will be huge for our growing workforce as we move forward.”
