Dive Brief:
- Entegris, a supplier of filtration and purification products for chip makers, has expanded production with the opening of a manufacturing center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
- The 135,000-square-foot site allows Entegris to increase production of its semiconductor wafer carriers, also called front-opening unified pods, which the company said were previously manufactured outside of the United States for decades.
- The Colorado Springs Manufacturing Center of Excellence has created “several hundred” direct and indirect jobs for the region and received nearly $100 million in local and federal incentives, according to a news release.
Dive Insight:
Entegris broke ground on the facility in 2023 and began initial operations earlier this year. The company celebrated its grand opening on Wednesday, bringing together semiconductor industry leaders and partners such as Samsung and Intel.
CEO Dave Reeder said in a statement that Entegris will be “instrumental” in building a more resilient U.S. semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem, providing customers a “reliable and advanced domestic supply chain of critical process chemistries and solutions.”
Entegris received $77 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS incentives program under the Biden administration to support project construction and the creation of 900 jobs. The total capital expenditure for the project was estimated to be $722 million.
Entegris built the manufacturing center to support production of its liquid filtration products and front-opening unified pods, which are containers that secure wafers while they are being handled and transported during the manufacturing process, according to an award summary from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Chipmakers such as Intel, TSMC, Micron and GlobalFoundries have become major customers for these carriers.
Phase one of the project is expected to reach peak capacity by 2028. Phase two, which is focused on producing advanced liquid filters and fluid handling solutions, is set to peak by 2032.
To advance its U.S. manufacturing efforts, Entegris has partnered with Colorado Springs school districts and universities on workforce development to help create a “self-sustaining” talent pool. It also aims to recruit 50% of its project workforce from veteran and military families through Hiring Our Heroes and other program partnerships.
