(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC announced the first major economic development in 2023 of Microchip Technology Inc. is investing $880 million in the Colorado Springs fabrication campus Friday morning on Feb. 17.

“We’ve got a large pool of talented people of which we can continue to grow and develop products here and the local community support has been outstanding here in the local vicinity,” Senior Vice President at Microchip Technology Inc., Rich Simoncic, said.

This investment will help the local economy by providing hundreds of high-paying jobs in Southern Colorado.

“We plan on adding just north of 400 people over the next few years,” Simoncic said. “We’ve got a number of groups that are looking to also hire and build out engineering teams here now and like I said, it’s a great place to attract engineering talent to.”

Simoncic commented on the appeal of the city and said “we’re hiring engineers now, they love the idea about living in Colorado Springs and so it’s a great place to attract people to.”

Mayor John Suthers shared that the appeal of the Pikes Peak region attracts companies like Microchip to the city.

“But what these companies have to have is a place that will attract these young high-tech workers,” Suthers said. “They’re not attracting people my age. They’re attracting people in their twenties and thirties and things like that and they want to go to places where they can some cases work from home or recreate when they want to and Colorado Springs is an absolutely incredibly attractive place for that. So that’s why the companies are coming here and I think we’ll see more of it.”

The investment will fund the expansion of the 50-acre Colorado Springs campus to expand its silicon carbide and silicon production capacity.

“So silicon carbide is the basis for almost every sustainability program, whether it’s electric vehicles, electric busses, electric trains, secondary engines, and aircrafts as we go,” Simoncic said. “All of the vertical takeoff aircraft are all being built based on silicon carbide chips and technology.”

 The Colorado Springs campus produces products from six-inch wafers but with new manufacturing technology Microchip will produce eight-inch wafers. The investment will help go into new equipment on the campus.

“So we already have a great deal of infrastructure or building, but the insides are being removed, modernized, and then new modern equipment is being brought in there,” Simoncic said. 

Eve Lieberman, Office of Economic Development and International Trade Executive Director, spoke on the podium on what this investment means locally and nationally.

“Microchip is an excellent partner to both the state and its local community, and this investment builds upon an important and thriving relationship in the wake of the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act,” Lieberman said. “Governor Polis has placed the attraction and retention of the semiconductor industry companies at the forefront of Colorado’s economic strategy.”

Microchip’s expansion will help attract an intelligent workforce to the Colorado Springs community and help in the growing demand for semiconductors.

“OEDIT is proud to partner with a community and an industry working together to stay at the forefront of an emerging pillar of the American economy,” Lieberman said.