Economic Development Board Approves Incentive for World Class Technology Project
Salt Lake City, Utah, March 17, 2006
Phase II of the West Desert High Energy Astrophysics Facilities also approved.
The Governor’s Office of Economic Development Board met today and approved an incentive to IM Flash Technologies. IM Flash Technologies, LLC (IMFT), is a joint venture of Micron Technology, Inc. and Intel Corporation, and will produce NAND Flash memory for use in consumer electronics, removable storage and handheld communication devices. The firm will fabricate memory chips and locate its headquarters in the former Micron facility in Lehi, Utah.
NAND Flash memory products are electrically re-writeable, non-volatile semiconductor devices that retain memory content when power is turned off. The market for NAND products has grown rapidly and reached approximately $11 billion in 2005. Expectations for 2006 are $14.8 billion, or 40 percent year over year growth. The growth is due to demand for removable and embedded storage devices. Removable storage devices include USB flash drives for applications such as personal computers. Flash memory cards are used for applications including digital still cameras and handsets. Embedded NAND-based storage devices are also beginning to be utilized in mobile phones and other personal and consumer applications.
The Lehi plant, which Micron began construction on ten years ago, now includes a build out of the fabrication facility and office space for the headquarters operation. It is expected that the new company will bring about 1,850 new jobs to Utah County. While covering a range of jobs and salaries, the new company will have an average wage of approximately $50,000 or 224 percent of the county median, which is currently $22,300 per year. Projected salaries paid during the next ten years will be more than $1 billion. The incentive approved by the Board will be an economic development tax incentive rebate of new incremental state revenues on a post-performance basis over five years. The rebate will not exceed a maximum of 30 percent over five years of new state revenues and the company must commit to keep operations in Utah for a minimum of ten years.
The IM Flash partners expect to invest more than $3 billion in the new company’s operations. In addition, Intel and Micron have each entered into separate ten-year agreements with Apple for a significant portion of each partner’s share of IM Flash Technologies’ NAND flash memory output. Martin Frey, Managing Director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), explained that “this project fits directly into GOED’s economic clusters initiative. Our economic development efforts are capitalizing on the state’s core strengths and facilitating the development of targeted industries, ultimately resulting in a thriving economy and an increased standard of living for Utah’s citizens.”
The Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) Board Chairman David Simmons recognized that “the investment by IM Flash Technologies is the largest single business investment ever made in Utah. This investment along with the Office of Economic Development’s USTAR Initiative and its Centers of Excellence program should continue to bring other significant technology investments to Utah.”
Mike Nelson, Director of Corporate Recruiting and Incentives for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) noted that “It is significant to this venture that Micron had previously selected Utah as a superior production location because of its highly educated and productive workforce, otherwise the IM Flash headquarters and production would have likely gone elsewhere in the country or overseas. Clearly the mix of a high quality of life and productive labor force made a difference to IM Flash.”
Rod Morgan, IM Flash Technologies' Executive Officer commented "We appreciate the support of Utah's state and local governments and their commitment to a competitive business environment." Morgan continued, "Our strategic relationship with the State of Utah positions IM Flash Technologies to build on the strengths of Micron and Intel to become a leader in the fast-growing NAND market segment.”
In other action, the Board also approved incentives for the West Desert High Energy Astrophysics Facilities to enter its second project phase. Located in Millard County, the project is expected to provide twenty-eight new permanent jobs and two hundred temporary construction jobs. The project represents a capital investment of over $19 million.
Included in facility are three complementary projects located in Millard County. Utilizing ground array detectors and mirror arrays to detect air showers produced by cosmic rays bombarding the earth, these projects will ultimately help determine the origins of the universe. “This is an exciting opportunity for Millard County for both economic development and science,” noted Dr. Greg Jones, State Science Advisor and Clusters Director. “Millard County has optimum conditions to support each of these experimental facilities and together they will represent the world’s largest, most diverse high-energy experimental facility.”
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Media Contacts
Stan Lockhart
Public Affairs, IM Flash Technologies
801-767-5011
selockhart@micron.com
Michael Sullivan, Dir. Communications GOED
801-538-8811 office
801-244-2975 Cell
mgsullivan@utah.gov
