Intel to open $7 billion factory in Phoenix area, hire thousands
Feb 8, 2017, 11:36 AM | Updated: 12:36 pm
The Fab 42 site in Chandler, Arizona is shown. (Intel Photo)
(Intel Photo)
PHOENIX — Intel will build a $7 billion factory in the Phoenix area that will employ thousands, company CEO Brian Krzanich announced Wednesday.
Krzanich made the announcement following an Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump, who joined the CEO during the press conference.
“(The plant is) a great thing for Arizona,” Trump said. “Unbelievable company and product and we’re very happy. I can tell you the people of Arizona are happy.”
Krzanich said the plant will be built on the existing Fab 42 site in Chandler, a suburb of Phoenix, near Dobson and Queen Creek roads.
“We will be completing that factory to make the most advanced, seven-nanometer semiconductor chips on the planet,” he said.
Krzanich said the factory will directly employ 3,000 “high-wage, high-tech jobs” at its peak. As many as 10,000 more could be hired for jobs indirectly related to the factory.
“That is a huge impact. Not only for Chandler, but for Arizona,” Terri Kimble, the president and CEO of the Chandler Chamber of Commerce, said.
In a press release, Intel said the factory should be operational within three or four years.
Gov. Doug Ducey said he was excited to hear the company decided to go ahead with its plan to build the factory.
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!! HUGE NEWS!! NEW JOBS FOR #ARIZONA! @intel @bkrunner @realDonaldTrump @POTUS @WhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/HgsX12NlSG
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) February 8, 2017
Krzanich claimed Intel would be the largest private employer in Arizona once the plant is finished.
The site of the plant, Fab 42, has a rocky history. It was originally slated to open in 2013, but was sidelined when Intel chose to update other factories at the site.
Former President Barack Obama visited the site in 2012.
“I’m here because the factory that’s being built behind me is an example of an America that is within our reach,” he told the crowd.
“An America that attracts the next generation of good manufacturing jobs. An America where we build stuff and make stuff and sell stuff all over the world.”
KTAR’s Kathy Cline contributed to this report.
