BOISE, Idaho — The entire tech industry is seeing explosive growth in our community, thanks to Micron and thanks to some big tax breaks and incentives. But now, some people are wondering if taxpayers will get their money's worth.
When talking about business growth in our state, it literally doesn't get any bigger than what Micron is building on its campus in East Boise. At the start of construction, Scott DeBoer, Micron Technology and Products Executive Vice President, said, "Soon, Boise will be the home to one of the world's most advanced manufacturing facilities."
This $15-billion fabrication plant for memory manufacturing, or "fab," is the largest private investment in state history. Cities and states across the nation competed to get the fab built in their community, but Boise and Idaho won out, partly because of a sizeable investment from you, the taxpayer. The most significant incentives come from the Federal CHIPS and Science Act. But Micron is also getting state tax exemptions and a local property tax cap, along with other benefits from Idaho and Boise. So, the question is, will the community see enough of a return on that investment?
Andrea Cantor is the Economic Development Advisor for the City of Boise. "That investment will trickle down to the community in a lot of different ways."
The new fab is expected to employ 2000 people. But Cantor says, those are not the only jobs it will bring, "With that, I think we're looking at about 15,000 jobs that will touch all different types and parts of the community."
Those 15,000 other jobs include positions in service industries, construction jobs, and at the companies that supply Micron with its materials. Some of those businesses are already planning to move or expand in Boise themselves. The community can also benefit from the upgraded infrastructure this fab requires, like power, transportation, housing, and water renewal.
Cantor says that will take plenty of coordination between Boise, the Idaho Department of Commerce, Idaho Power, and of course, Micron. "We're just really happy that they're willing to double down on this community specifically. And so, as we work with partners like Idaho Commerce and Idaho Power, we just we hope to achieve some of our aspirational goals like renewable energy, and water renewal, and we were going to need to all work together to do those," she said.
Micron will also directly fund community and workforce development through its Community Investment Framework, to the tune of $75 million. The hope is to prepare local students to take local high-paying future-proof jobs in chip manufacturing.
So, the community benefits are huge and widespread, as long as they actually happen. Which is why some of these incentives and tax breaks (whether they're from the feds, state, or city) are performance-based. Meaning, Micron doesn't get them until they start building, producing, hiring, or training.
"So, while we're excited that Micron is investing in their workforce, we also want to make sure there's a kind of a public benefit that comes with that,” Cantor said. "How are we supporting transportation, housing, childcare, renewable energy, and just how are we achieving those goals together?'"
So, it looks like a win-win right now, but this is something we'll continue to follow. Construction should be done by sometime next year. We should hear about some of those suppliers for Micron making big announcements about moving or expanding here in the next few months.
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