Could Chatham County land a multibillion-dollar investment from a microchip maker?
A U.S. semiconductor company is considering Chatham County for a new, multibillion-dollar manufacturing plant, but the site faces steep competition from rival locations across the country, three sources have confirmed to The News & Observer.
The Triangle Innovation Point megasite, just north of Sanford in Moncure, has been viewed for years as a potential landing spot for a large economic development project.
State officials had worked to land a car manufacturer at the site, but after repeated misses the Moncure Megasite was renamed Triangle Innovation Point and marketed for other uses, like life sciences and high-tech manufacturing.
If the chip maker were to select Chatham County, sources said, it would be one of the largest projects in the state, coming with a $40 billion investment and thousands of jobs. In comparison, the recent Toyota battery plant the state helped attract to Randolph County in December was expected to be a $1.3 billion investment by the Japanese car maker, The News & Observer previously reported.
The news of a chip maker’s interest in the site was first reported by Business North Carolina magazine.
JLL, a real estate services firm that is helping market the site, said it would not comment on whether specific companies were looking at the property.
Sam Rauf, a project manager at the Chatham Economic Development Corporation, told the N&O that he could not “confirm whether it is true or not” that a chip maker is looking at Chatham County.
Located off U.S. 1 in Moncure, around 30 miles southwest of Raleigh, the megasite is close to the Triangle’s labor force and has access to water and power, key components for landing a large-scale manufacturer. The site also has been looked at by an electric vehicle manufacturer in addition to the chip maker, two sources said.
The nearby city of Sanford was given $34 million in the latest state budget to expand its water plant. While not tied directly to a chip plant coming to Triangle Innovation Point, the expansion of Sanford’s water plant could provide flexibility to upgrade water capacity to the site in the future.
“There’s some major activity at that (Moncure) site right now,” Sanford Mayor Chet Mann said. “We feel like it’s a matter of when, not if, something large lands there.” Mann declined to comment on whether a semiconductor company was looking at the site.
Chip makers are expanding throughout U.S.
The N&O was unable to confirm the name of the potential chip maker looking at the Chatham County site — though several chip makers are currently considering expanding in the U.S. as the industry grapples with supply chain issues, shortages and huge demand.
Micron, an Idaho-based chip maker, said in October, for example, that it hopes to invest $150 billion in manufacturing, research and development in the U.S. in coming years.
Erica Rodriguez Pompen, a spokeswoman for Micron, told the N&O that Micron is evaluating sites across the world for investment.
“Locations are being vetted across a number of factors including site availability suitable for a fab, access to a strong talent pool, reliable and cost-competitive utility services, alignment with our corporate sustainability objectives, and a favorable regulatory environment,” Rodriguez Pompen said in an email. “In the U.S., we’re engaging in discussions with multiple states and will provide updates as the process continues and at the appropriate time.
“There are multiple factors that inform our decision to invest billions of dollars to construct and operate a fab. We will share specific locations as we close on unique investment targets.”
Sources said the Chatham County site faces stiff competition from Texas and Arizona, which have both recently landed semiconductor manufacturers. In September, Intel began construction on a $20 billion chip plant in Arizona, and Samsung is building a $17 billion chip plant outside of Austin, Texas.
The Triangle Business Journal reported that a U.S. chipmaker might come to the TIP site, but the Austin Business Journal and Phoenix Business Journal — both owned by the same parent company as the TBJ — published similar reports that a chipmaker was investigating locations in their respective locations.
The U.S. government is trying to stimulate semiconductor manufacturing in the country, and there are several bills in Congress that could provide incentives for chip makers if they invest in U.S. manufacturing.
An investment in Chatham County, one source said, could depend on the funding of the “Creating Helpful Incentives for the Production of Semiconductors” (CHIPS) for America Act, which could provide some $52 billion in incentives to semiconductor manufacturers to expand in the U.S.
The bill has been approved by the U.S. Senate, but funding for it still needs to be approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has been urging the House to fund the bill, noting U.S. chip manufacturing represents only 12% of the global production, down from 40% in the 1990s, CNBC reported.
The shortage is hurting a variety of industries, most notably car manufacturing. GM, for instance, said it would cut the production of 200,000 vehicles because of chip shortages, according to CNBC.
U.S. Rep. David Price, a Democrat who represents North Carolina’s 4th District, which includes Chatham County, said semiconductors are “a very high priority for federal investment.”
The CHIPS Act “needs to be funded,” Price said in an interview with the N&O. “I think it will be.”
“The bipartisan, bicameral support for this is about as good as it gets these days,” Price added.
Price, however, said he was not aware of any semiconductor companies’ plans for an investment in Chatham County.
North Carolina state representative Robert Reives II — whose district includes Chatham County — declined to comment on specific investments that could be coming to Moncure, but said interest is high at the TIP megasite and another in Siler City.
“Both the Siler City and Moncure sites have gotten a lot of attention over the past year and we are working hard and extremely hopeful that Chatham has an opportunity for a transformative project sooner rather than later,” Reives said.
News & Observer reporter Lucille Sherman contributed to this story.
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Learn more; go to bit.ly/newsinnovate
This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 4:52 PM.
