THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 21, 1996 TAG: 9605210313
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 63 lines
Motorola Inc. and Siemens A.G. announced Monday the building of a $1.5 billion semiconductor plant in suburban Richmond, the third chip-plant announcement in the state in the past 13 months.
The 600,000-square-foot facility in Henrico County will employ up to 1,500 people making Dynamic Random Access Memory chips, or DRAM chips, the temporary memory used in all computers.
Last September, Motorola announced a $3 billion chip-making plant in Goochland County, about 20 miles west of the Henrico site. In August, IBM and Toshiba announced a joint venture to invest $1.2 billion in a Manassas facility in Northern Virginia. The Goochland plant will employ up to 5,000 people, while the Manassas plant will create 4,000 jobs.
``By any economic development measure . . . Virginia is hot,'' said Robert T. Skunda, state secretary of commerce and trade.
Juergan Knorr, head of Siemens Semiconductor Group, told a gathering of over 150 state legislators, local officials and officers from both companies that the Henrico County site won out over 20 others in the United States.
``The site has the best combination of attributes that we are looking for, including such things as a good quality of life, a skilled work force and an excellent educational system,'' he said.
The state is providing a $19.9 million incentive package to the venture, including $1.4 million in job tax credits, $1.5 million in work-force training, $15 million in performance-based grants and a $2 million investment in higher education.
Skunda said the state estimates that the plant will generate an additional 3,000 jobs in the local economy. Over the first 20 years of the plant, the state estimates it will produce $146.1 million in direct and indirect state tax revenues.
Thomas D. George, president of Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector, said the company's previous experience with the Goochland plant was a deciding factor when it came to the location of the joint venture.
``We have received exceptional cooperation, for which we are deeply thankful. . . . This is a superb place to create more and growing businesses,'' he said.
Officials said construction would begin during the final quarter of this year, and production could begin as soon as the second or third quarter of 1998.
Knorr said the new venture would be called White Oak Semiconductors and would be located on a 175-acre site near the Richmond International Airport in eastern Henrico County.
Gov. George F. Allen, on a Far East trade mission, joined the announcement via videotape.
``In just 13 months, three truly world-class semiconductor facilities have now chosen to locate here in the `Silicon Dominion.' Clearly, our Virginia Renaissance continues. . . . From Japan to Germany, the eyes of the world are on Virginia,'' Allen said.
The majority of the White Oak incentive package is in bonuses based on how many chips are produced, employees hired and other criteria.
Skunda said structuring the incentive packages in this manner protects the state. Last month, Motorola announced it was delaying by a year construction of the Goochland County plant, which is scheduled to open in late 1997 or early 1998. Because the majority of the $85.6 million of that incentive package also is in bonuses, Motorola will not see any of the money until the plant is up and running. by CNB