LANSING — Menlo Microsystems, Inc. (Menlo Micro) says it has finalized an asset purchase in Tompkins County, which will house the company’s first domestic- microelectronics fabrication (fab) facility, which it dubs the Ideal Fab. Menlo Micro will invest $50 million in the Ideal Fab over the next three years, creating more than 100 high tech […]
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LANSING — Menlo Microsystems, Inc. (Menlo Micro) says it has finalized an asset purchase in Tompkins County, which will house the company’s first domestic- microelectronics fabrication (fab) facility, which it dubs the Ideal Fab.
Menlo Micro will invest $50 million in the Ideal Fab over the next three years, creating more than 100 high tech jobs at the site within the next five years, per its July 11 announcement.
Built out of a “decade-long effort” at General Electric’s global research center in Niskayuna, Menlo Micro’s research and development (R&D) arm is located at the Albany NanoTech Complex, the Irvine, California–based company noted.
In its online news release, Menlo Micro describes itself as the company “responsible for reinventing the electronic switch with its Ideal Switch technology.”
Menlo Micro expects U.S.–based manufacturing to begin in 2024 with the new Lansing fab that will produce thousands of wafers per month when fully operational. The company has university partnerships with the SUNY Polytechnic Institute and the University at Albany, with hopes to expand its research and workforce-development partnerships to Cornell University and other universities across upstate New York with the launch of the new Ideal Fab.
To support the construction of Menlo Micro’s new fab, Empire State Development will provide $6.5 million in performance-based Excelsior Jobs tax credits in exchange for 122 new jobs in Lansing. As with all Excelsior Jobs projects, Menlo Micro will receive the credits after demonstrating that it has met its job and investment commitments, New York State says.
The company will locate its fab in the Cornell Business and Technology Park, per a Facebook post from Ithaca Area Economic Development.
“This is a tremendous investment in the Ithaca area and a testament to the local, state, and federal partners that worked together to bring Menlo Micro’s fab to our community., with a special thanks to Senator Schumer for ensuring passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, and to encourage Menlo Micro to site in New York State,” Heather McDaniel, president of Ithaca Area Economic Development, said in a statement. “They will benefit from our dedicated and highly educated workforce, and we stand ready to support them in their efforts to create quality employment opportunities.”
CHIPS and Science Act effect
Both U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) and Gov. Kathy Hochul say the Menlo Micro announcement follows “their long advocacy to make New York a global microelectronics manufacturing hub and Schumer’s personal call to Menlo Micro CEO Russ Garcia last year.”
“Today’s announcement represents the first step toward significantly increasing the domestic-production capacity of our Ideal Switch to help secure critical infrastructure and further strengthen America’s technology stronghold,” Garcia said. “We want to thank Senate Majority Leader Schumer for his leadership on the CHIPS and Science Act, which is directly supportive of and aligned with our plan to onshore our manufacturing capabilities. We look forward to continuing to work with Sen. Schumer, Gov. Hochul, Sen. Gillibrand, Rep. Molinaro and the entire New York delegation as we begin ushering in the next generation of electrification, delivering unprecedented cost and energy savings to essential U.S. industries. We believe this fab modernization project is in 100% alignment with the presidential directive on bringing semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States.”
Schumer and Hochul said that the retrofitting of Menlo Micro’s new Ideal Fab has already begun in the village of Lansing.
“With this agreement to bring Menlo Microsystems to Tompkins County, we are once again declaring New York State as Chips Country,” Hochul said. “Menlo Micro’s groundbreaking chip technology powers the tools and electronics that New Yorkers rely on every day, and thanks to a remarkable partnership between local, state, and federal officials, their New York production facility will create more than 100 high-tech jobs and unlock millions of dollars in investment to support the entire region. I am excited to welcome Menlo to New York’s chip-making ecosystem as we continue our work to attract the innovative, 21st century businesses that will provide good-paying jobs, grow our advanced manufacturing sector, and move our economy forward.”
Menlo Micro says it has pioneered next-generation switch technology, which includes “hyper-efficient” switches that have broad base application, including aerospace, energy, communications, critical infrastructure, and more.
The switches are also a vital component of the microelectronics industry, supporting the growth of the domestic semiconductor industry “that is being driven by Schumer’s CHIPS and Science Act,” per Schumer’s office.