SOUTHEAST BOISE, Idaho — Since 2021, Micron Technology has been working to bring more chip manufacturing back to the U.S. following the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act. The memory chip manufacturer is now constructing its first new fabrication facility in southeast Boise, with a second facility already in ground preparation.
Scott Gatzemeier, Micron's corporate vice president of front-end U.S. expansion, said the federal legislation helped fast-track construction of the company's expansion.
"Before the CHIPS and Science Act passed, we were lobbying to get those bills passed. We were, I'd say, influential in what those bills look like. These fabs here make a tremendous amount of sense because we're co-located with our technology development in our headquarters," Gatzemeier said.
WATCH: Micron building new fabrication facility with a second on the way
The factories will produce memory chips — the components powering smartphones, laptops, and artificial intelligence systems. With AI expanding rapidly, so is the need for memory.
"We've seen the demand for memory skyrocket because of all the AI applications and data centers," Gatzemeier said. “Memory is really at the heart of AI, so it's incredibly exciting, and as a result of that, we've had to build a second fab to meet the demand for our customers.”
While the first fabrication facility is still under construction, ground preparation for a second facility is already underway. Gatzemeier said the site's basalt foundation requires daily blasting to prepare for building.
"We sit on a basalt rock here that's very firm, and we have to do excavation," explained Gatzemeier. "So every day at 4:30 we have a dynamite blast here, and then we move that rock daily."
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The Boise expansion is part of a larger national push, with additional fabrication facilities planned in New York as well, according to Micron. Once complete, company leaders say more than 40% of Micron's memory production could be based in the U.S.
In Idaho, Micron estimates that the $50 billion investment will add 60,000 jobs, most of which will be connected to the project.
"Micron will hire 33,500 direct employees, and then our partner companies like Lamb, Tel, ASML, Applied Materials, they will hire additional engineers to support the equipment that we put in this fab," Gatzemeier added.
With massive chip manufacturing comes massive water use, a concern some southeast Boise neighbors have raised.
"I live in Southeast Boise as well. I love Boise, Idaho. It's where we get to work, live, and play,” Gatzemeier said. “We're building one of the most sustainable fabs ever built, looking for LEED gold. All the water that we use will be recycled and reused, and then reused in our process as well. The only water loss that we'll basically have throughout this plant will be the evaporation off our cooling towers."
The construction of the first fab is expected to be completed in 2026, and the first chips are expected to roll out in 2027.
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