Intel in Rio Rancho to boost productivity

RIO RANCHO — Rio Rancho in the coming years is poised to become the home of the U.S.’s largest packaging facility of advanced semiconductor chips.

That was one of the highlights of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s announcement Tuesday to award Intel Corp. with almost $8 billion in direct funding to shore up domestic production of chips, which are used in everyday appliances and advanced laboratories.

The federal investment will be added to around $100 billion in investments Intel plans to make at its facilities in Rio Rancho and Arizona, Ohio and Oregon before the end of the decade, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on a call with members of the media on Monday.

“After a 30-year dip, the industry is coming back to the U.S.,” she said. “... We’re revitalizing an industry that was created here.”

The $7.9 billion investment includes $500 million for Intel in Rio Rancho so it can modernize two fabrication facilities and become a massive advanced packaging facility. Intel will refit and reopen Fab 9 and upgrade its Fabs 11 and 11X in Rio Rancho.

Intel earlier this year opened a new Fab 9 factory in Rio Rancho to manufacture advanced semiconductor packaging technologies, including Intel’s 3D packaging technology, Foveros.

The Foveros design is based on stacking computing chips on top of each other to create a compact package for faster computation, according to Intel.

The investment reflects efforts to “re-shore” chip production to decrease dependence on Asian counties, where most chips are now made. Issues with relying on other countries for those products were highlighted by supply-chain problems during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Funding for the Intel investment was part of the CHIPS and Science Act, which was passed in 2022 in an attempt to increase domestic semiconductor manufacturing.

The Commerce Department announcement continued a turnaround of sorts for Intel in New Mexico. The company’s local workforce declined from 3,300 employees to about 1,100 between 2013-2017. But the updated Fab 9 site was expected to create 700 permanent jobs with salaries from $23.42 to $43.53 an hour.

The latest investment in Intel in Rio Rancho is estimated to create 1,800 manufacturing jobs and 2,500 construction jobs, according to Commerce Department documents.

“We’re further solidifying our state’s role as a leader in innovation and advanced manufacturing, building a better future for the hard-working people of our state, growing our economy, strengthening the middle class, and creating high quality careers New Mexicans can build their families around,” Sen. Martin Heinrich said in a statement. “I fought hard to pass the CHIPS and Science Act because I knew it would have a transformative impact—today, we are seeing that work pay off.”

Intel and the Commerce Department previously announced the company would get $8.5 billion in direct funding and $11 billion in loans. Commerce officials said the deal is now outlined in a memorandum of terms between the federal government and Intel. The company is no longer seeking the loan.

“Leading-edge semiconductors are once again being made on American soil,” Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, said in a news release. “Strong bipartisan support for restoring American technology and manufacturing leadership is driving historic investments that are critical to the country’s long-term economic growth and national security. Intel is deeply committed to advancing these shared priorities as we further expand our U.S. operations over the next several years.”