Chip company Micron announces multibillion-dollar facility in Boise

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Three weeks after President Biden signed the CHIPS Act to boost domestic production of semiconductors, chip company Micron has announced that it is building a $15 billion manufacturing plant in Boise, Idaho. Boise State Public Radio's Sasa Woodruff reports.

SASA WOODRUFF, BYLINE: Fifteen billion dollars is a huge investment for Boise, where Micron is based. Mayor Lauren McLean says the company is promising 2,000 jobs here and expects its plant to create 17,000 nationwide.

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LAUREN MCLEAN: It's a big day for the city of Boise, and I'd say it's a big day for our state and our nation too.

WOODRUFF: Emilie Simons, assistant White House press secretary, says the new memory chip plant will help fix supply shortages that emerged during the pandemic.

EMILIE SIMONS: We saw this in real life when cars became harder to find, dishwashers were more on back order.

WOODRUFF: Simons says the CHIPS and Science Act was crucial to Micron building the new plant in the U.S.

SIMONS: They were looking at opportunities in Europe and in other countries where countries had already passed legislation that was meeting them halfway.

WOODRUFF: Micron will fund science and technology education in Idaho from elementary school through college, says Chief People Officer April Arnzen.

APRIL ARNZEN: As you can imagine, hiring another 2,000 direct employees to Micron is going to require a lot of support from our educators in Idaho and across the region.

WOODRUFF: Idaho ranks last in the country for per student spending. Micron also plans to partner with Boise on housing, where prices skyrocketed during the pandemic.

ARNZEN: Housing is a challenge, and we continue to partner with the mayor's office and others to support all of these jobs that we're bringing to Boise.

WOODRUFF: Micron says this investment in Boise is the initial phase of a $40 billion plan to build memory fabrication plants in other parts of the country.

For NPR News, I'm Sasa Woodruff in Boise.

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