A semiconductor facility in Beaverton is about to get bigger and more efficient, thanks to a $1 billion investment announced by Analog Devices Incorporated, or ADI, this week.
The global semiconductor company employs 25,000 people around the world, working on technology that combines analog, digital and software for products that range from health care to communications to environmental science. According to Fred Bailey, corporate vice president of fab operations at Analog Devices, ADI’s semiconductor wafers show up in everything from electric vehicles to earbuds, smart glasses to ultrasounds. The Beaverton site in particular has customers in sectors including “industrial, automotive, communications, consumer, and health care.”
The newly-announced money will help expand the company’s cleanroom capacity in Beaverton to 118,000 square feet — an expansion of 25,000 square feet, according to Bailey. ADI officials say the expansion will create hundreds of additional tech jobs in Beaverton, where ADI has had a presence since 1978.
In a statement, the company said the expanded facility will also be home to a skills training center it’s calling “Semiconductor Advanced Manufacturing University.” Up to 25 students would cycle through an eight-week training program focused on semiconductor maintenance skills. ADI says it wants to prioritize including military veterans, people re-entering the workforce and existing ADI employees as training program participants.
About one-tenth of the announced spending will go toward more efficient tools, which ADI says will increase capacity while reducing the carbon footprint of the manufacturing process.
“By expanding ADI’s Beaverton facility, we are increasing our production capacity in critical industries, boosting domestic manufacturing in line with the vision of the CHIPS Act, and enhancing the global resiliency of ADI’s hybrid manufacturing model,” said Vincent Roche, ADI’s CEO and Chair.
In commenting on the latest investment in Oregon semiconductor manufacturing, both ADI’s chief executive and Oregon’s senior U.S. senator invoked the promise of federal investments through the CHIPS and Science Act — the $280 billion package Congress approved last year to boost the country’s tech sector.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, also applauded the investment as consistent with steps Congress is taking to strengthen semiconductor manufacturing, and as a reminder that such plants are a key part of the “silicon forest.”
“Today’s good news from Analog Devices marks a significant step to ensure Oregon is taking full advantage of the federal CHIPS Act I worked to pass into law,” Wyden said.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to name Fred Bailey, corporate vice president of fab operations at Analog Devices, as the spokesperson who discussed the company’s plans with OPB.