Micron official calls upcoming Clay semiconductor campus “big bet” for company, region

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — An official with Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) says its decision to come to the town of Clay is a “big bet” for both the company and the Central New York region.

April Arnzen, chief people officer at Boise, Idaho–based Micron, spoke at Wednesday’s annual meeting of CenterState CEO at the Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center at Oncenter.

“We know it’s going to require a much different approach for us to make sure it’s successful,” Arnzen said.

Micron is currently focused on “pathways and partnerships,” Arnzen said. “To get the workforce that we need, we’re going to have to create and scale pathways to these jobs. A lot of partnerships across the entire education ecosystem.”

She then noted the recent announcement about the Northeast University Semiconductor Network, a partnership of more than 20 universities to form a “training pipeline to build the future of the semiconductor industry in Central New York.” Micron joined U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) and the National Science Foundation to announce the network at Syracuse University.

Micron is also partnering with community colleges and working to set up programs to help people who normally wouldn’t be able to access some of these careers, Arnzen said.

The firm also wants to attract veterans and other underrepresented individuals into these careers.

“And, of course, you can’t build a workforce pipeline without thinking about K-12 and so a lot of investment in K-12 programs, including the [upcoming Syracuse City School District] STEAM school,” she added. STEAM is short for science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.

Arnzen went on to say that workforce and community are “inextricably linked” and if the company doesn’t invest in both, its plans for Clay “will not be successful.”

“So, thinking about barriers that might exist that really prevent people from participating in these careers, such as child care, such as housing, such as just a rich and vibrant business startup community and ecosystem. How can we invest in some of these startup businesses to make sure that we really create the ecosystem that we need to be successful,” Arnzen said.

Micron Technology plans to invest up to $100 billion over the next 20-plus years on a semiconductor manufacturing campus at the White Pine Commerce Park in the town of Clay.

The firm’s expansion is going to bring about 50,000 jobs to the region, including 9,000 direct Micron jobs in addition to a lot of jobs in the supplier ecosystem, construction jobs, and community jobs.

“Every single time we’re here, we know we made the right decision,” Arnzen told the gathering at the CenterState CEO annual meeting.