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LEHI — Texas Instruments on Thursday broke ground on its new $11 billion, 300-mm semiconductor wafer fabrication plant in northern Utah County.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called the plant "the greatest single economic investment in the history of our state" — creating around 800 new, high-paying jobs and thousands of indirect jobs in Lehi.
"Utah has a strong network of community partners in addition to great people and great talents, all of which makes it a great place for TI to continue to invest," said Haviv Ilan, president and CEO of Texas Instruments. "We believe strong companies build strong communities, and strong communities build strong companies. TI has found a great partner in this community, and we look forward to the work we will do together in the future."
The latest plant will add to the production of Texas Instruments' existing 300-mm wafer fabrication plant in Lehi. Together, the two plants will manufacture tens of millions of analog and embedded processing chips found in items like phones, computers, cars and home appliances every single day.
"This is more than just new jobs and more than just creating some chips for computers," Cox said. "This is about national security. It's about supply chains and bringing supply chains back to the United States, away from our adversaries that want to do us harm."
When most people think of Texas Instruments, their first thought is of the calculators they used in high school and college math classes. Trevor Bee, factory manager at Lehi's wafer fabrication plant, said the company is involved in so much more than just calculators.
"The bulk of our revenue really comes from the analog and embedded chips that we produce that power everything from consumer electronics to industrial automation to the automotive segment," Bee said. "People have hundreds or thousands of Texas Instruments chips in their home without ever knowing that that's what powers the electronic devices that they have."
The newest plant will produce even more of these chips.
Cox added that although Texas Instruments has only been in Utah for a couple of years, the company already understands the "ethos" of Utah, exemplified by the tech giant's $9 million investment into Alpine School District.
As the single largest investment that the district has ever received, the money will go toward the development of the state's first STEM learning community for K-12 students in the district.
"We are excited this partnership will help our students develop essential knowledge and skills, preparing them for success in life and possible careers in the technology sector," said Shane Farnsworth, Alpine School District superintendent. "Working together with the city of Lehi, Texas Instruments and our schools, this collaborative investment will impact students and their families for many generations to come."
The multiyear program will implement more science, technology, engineering and math concepts into the district's coursework and provide STEM-oriented professional development for teachers and administrators.
Another aspect that made welcoming Texas Instruments' expansion in Utah easy was the company's vision for building sustainably, Cox said.
The latest wafer fabrication plant will be LEED Gold-certified, powered by 100% renewable energy, and will recycle water at nearly twice the rate of the company's existing fabrication plant in Lehi.
"I would stand this up as an example for the future of the state, that when companies want to come to Utah or want to expand here in Utah, they have to come to the table with real solutions to make sure that we're using less water and we're being more responsible," Cox said. "It doesn't matter if we have great jobs in the future if we don't have anything to drink."
Funding for Texas Instruments' manufacturing expansions came in part through the Biden Administration's CHIPS and Science Act. The wafer fabrication plant is expected to go into production as early as 2026.
