[G]ov. Peter Shumlin welcomed representatives from GlobalFoundries to the Statehouse on Thursday for a presentation describing what the company does and how its leaders plan to help the state.
Mike Russo, the director of government relations for GlobalFoundries, spoke before more than a dozen lawmakers and business leaders. House Speaker Shap Smith, D-Morristown, and Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell, D-Windsor, also attended.
Shumlin told the story of how he helped persuade the company to come to Vermont, where it finally took over the Essex Junction semiconductor plant, receiving $1.5 billion from IBM to be its sole provider of small chips that eventually end up in iPhones.
Shumlin said he began reading in the news that IBM was looking to get out of the chipmaking business. When he realized GlobalFoundries might take over, Shumlin recalled, he called the company and said, “We’re here. We want to cooperate. We want to help.”
“In my experience, in my assessment, GlobalFoundries wants to be the No. 1 chipmaker in the world,” Shumlin said. “They’re innovative. They’re transparent. They’ll tell you more about their company than (other companies did) in previous employment relationships, in my view.”
Russo said GlobalFoundries is privately owned by the government of Abu Dhabi and analysts say it’s worth $6 billion. The company has five factories on three continents. In addition to the Essex Junction plant, two are in upstate New York, one is in Germany, and the last is in Singapore.
“To you all, your governor did reach out on your behalf, early on, repeatedly,” Russo said. “I’ve never received a call from a governor who invited me for a hot dog around the corner from where my office was.”
Russo said the semiconductor industry is growing rapidly as technology becomes more sophisticated. He pointed to data that said mergers and acquisitions within the industry grew from $25 billion in worth in 2012 to $130 billion in 2015.
He said there is an “insatiable” appetite for data. By 2020, he said, storage might be referred to not in megabytes and gigabytes, but something called brontobytes. He also pointed to a graph that showed an exponential increase in the use of semiconductors in technology since 1985, an indication that the industry has potential to continue growing significantly.
On the political side, Russo said the company is approaching its relationship with the state as a “true partnership.” For example, GlobalFoundries has agreed to start a mentoring program that will help Vermonters who need jobs learn skills such as job interviewing.
“You need to help us help you, and vice versa,” Russo said. “If we do that together, and we leverage what we can bring to the table, it helps us (and) it helps you grow the economy.”
“I’m busy, and I’m not around sometimes,” Russo said, “but if I can be helpful as a mentor, I’ll do it. I’ll show up for school and I’ll mentor.”
