A part of the state budget agreement among North Carolina legislators announced Tuesday suggests a computer chip maker may be considering northern Chatham County for a factory that could surpass the record set only three months ago by the VinFast electric-vehicle plant as the state’s biggest-ever one-site economic development project.
The provision appropriates $112.5 million to the Department of Commerce for a project involving an unidentified business that would make computer chips and invest $4.8 billion in private funds and create at least 1,800 jobs in Chatham County.
The $4.8 billion would surpass the $4 billion electric vehicle maker VinFast is set to invest in its plant announced in late March for the other megasite in Chatham County, the Triangle Innovation Point, formerly known as the Moncure Megasite. VinFast’s job-creation target of 7,500 jobs would surpass the computer chipmaker’s 1,800-job target.
Of the state appropriation to aid the chip maker, $57.5 million would go to reimburse the company for site preparation work and wetlands mitigation costs. Another $55 million would go to the city of Asheboro for infrastructure improvements to support the site.
The location and description fit the Chatham-Siler City Advanced Megasite developed by two Triad businessmen, Tim Booras and D.H. Griffin. The megasite is in Chatham County and is roughly 15 miles east of Asheboro along the U.S. 64 corridor. Asheboro has its own reservoir to supply water to the site, whereas sewer infrastructure is provided by Siler City a few miles to the east, as has long been outlined since the project emerged as a prospect for a megasite development.
No computer chipmaker company is identified in the legislation, and there is no indication that a definitive agreement has been reached.
One possibility, however, might be the Durham-based company Wolfspeed, which had been mentioned previously as a potential prospect as semiconductor makers eyed the Triangle Innovation Point site farther southeast in Chatham County. Formerly known as Cree and built from semiconductor research at North Carolina State University,
Wolfspeed in August announced it had reached an agreement with European ST Microelectronics for Wolfspeed to supply ST with 150mm silicon carbide bare and epitaxial wafers over the next several years. At the time of the announcement, the companies said the agreement was worth more than $800 million.
Silicon carbide’s use in the growing electric vehicle sector suggests Wolfspeed could complement the Carolina Core’s recent successes in luring Toyota and VinFast. Wolfspeed and ST Microelectronics in their August press release spoke to their agreement’s applicability to the automotive industry: “The adoption of silicon carbide-based power solutions is rapidly growing across the automotive market as the industry moves from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles, enabling greater system efficiencies that result in electric cars with longer range and faster charging, while reducing cost, lowering weight and conserving space.”
Wolfspeed also in April opened a chip fabrication facility near Utica, New York, to make 200-milimeter-wide chips, largely for the electric-vehicle market. It is said to be the world’s largest fabrication facility for chips using silicon carbide, which is seen as far more efficient than traditional silicon and able to help car makers extend the charging range of electric vehicles.
And Wolfspeed President and CEO Gregg Lowe told analysts on the company’s third-quarter conference call in May that it has to increase production to meet demand and that may include a new chip fabrication facility.
“Wolfspeed will very likely need to add more materials production as well as consider the construction of another wafer fab. At this point in time, I can’t tell you precisely when and where, but it will certainly be sooner than we anticipated back at our Investor Day.”
Neighboring the Chatham-Siler City Advanced Manufacturing site is Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina, a venture of the Japanese automaker to build electric-vehicle batteries at the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite just over the Guilford County line in northern Randolph County, in a deal announced by state and company officials in December. That project, with a $1.2 billion investment and expectations to create at least 1,750 jobs, has a potential second phase that could take the investment to $3.4 billion and 3,875 total jobs.
The appropriation for the computer chip maker is subject to the state Economic Investment Committee awarding a Jobs Development Investment Grant for such a project. The Economic Investment Committee is made of the secretaries of Commerce and of Revenue, the director of the Office of State Budget and Management, and two appointees chosen respectively by the leaders of the Assembly and Senate.
The budget agreement was announced Tuesday by Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, a Republican of District 30 in Caswell, Rockingham, Stokes and Surry counties, and House Speaker Tim Moore, Republican of District 111 in Cleveland County. It now goes to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper for signature or veto.
Another economic-development provision in the budget deal appropriates $450 million to a business that would make electric vehicles and invest $3 billion and create at least 6,000 jobs. Of that, $75 million would go to the city of Sanford for related water and sewer infrastructure improvements. Sanford is providing such services to the VinFast site, indicating that the legislation likely is codification of the state’s promised aid.
House Deputy Conference Chair Rep. Jason Saine, Republican of District 97 in Lincoln County, said at the press conference announcing the budget agreement that the $450 million appropriation and the computer chip project are among some $876 million in economic-development funds in the budget plan.
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