ESSEX JUNCTION — GlobalFoundries leaders and Vermont politicians on Friday celebrated nearly $130 million in planned federal and state funding for the semiconductor chip manufacturer’s Essex Junction facility.
Last month the U.S. Department of Commerce announced a whopping $1.5 billion grant to GlobalFoundries to boost domestic chip production.
Of that funding, $125 million is earmarked for expanding and improving the company’s Vermont plant, which manufactures chips called “Fab 9” that are used in cars, phones and gaming devices, among other uses. (The company has a larger campus in Malta, New York, that will also undergo an expansion with the federal funding.)
Paired with $4.5 million in state funding, the money positions Vermont’s largest employer to become the nation’s first mass manufacturer of next-generation gallium nitride semiconductors to be used in electric vehicles, data centers and power grids, officials said Friday.
But while they stressed the importance of the investment at a packed press conference at the Vermont plant’s auditorium Friday, officials were vague about its impact on job creation in the state.
Speaking at the event, Gov. Phil Scott said “400 new hires are made possible” by the investment, calling that number “a big deal in Vermont.”
In response to a follow-up question, Thomas Caulfield, GlobalFoundries’ president and chief executive officer, clarified that the estimate includes jobs outside of the company and further down the supply chain, such as positions making chemicals or equipment. It would include a range of jobs for people from technicians to college-educated professionals, he said.
The Essex Junction facility employs about 1,800 people and manufactures chips in partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense for some of the most sensitive aerospace and defense systems, officials said.
Calling the technology critical not just for Vermont but for the country’s economy and national security, Scott said, “I am very, very proud of our small state having a pretty big role on the global stage as a result.”
U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., spoke via video from Washington, D.C., to say the large grant, a result of the 2022 federal CHIPS and Science Act, will be “absolutely transformative” and will help the state “lead the nation in chips production.”
U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., who attended the event in person, told the crowd, “This country faces challenges and one of the challenges we face is to make sure that we stay on the cutting edge of chip technology in order that our supply chains are maintained, that we have the domestic capacity to meet our needs.”
Improvements to the Essex Junction plant will include sustainability practices slated to “meet or surpass state and federal regulatory requirements” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve wastewater treatment, said Caulfield. “I think it’s totally fitting that we’re in the Green Mountain State, that we will lead in making this one of the greenest in the country,” Caulfield said to applause.
