O'FALLON, Mo. — A deal to expand silicon wafer manufacturing in O'Fallon, Missouri, will add 75 jobs over five years, a pair of companies said Tuesday.
GlobalFoundries Inc., of New York, and GlobalWafers Co. Ltd., of Taiwan, said they'd reached an $800 million agreement to add silicon-on-insulator wafer manufacturing and expand other existing wafer production at GlobalWafers' facility in O'Fallon. The deal also calls for nearly $210 million in capital expenditures to expand the facility over two years, with the silicon-on-insulator wafer manufacturing coming online in the fourth quarter this year.
The wafers are used in GlobalFoundries' production facilities, where they're used to manufacture computer chips for smartphones, wireless connectivity, automotive radar and aerospace.
The state of Missouri said it was supporting the expansion with $9.4 million in investments. A state spokeswoman didn't respond to questions about which programs were being utilized for the subsidies.
A press release from the state also said the city of O'Fallon, Ameren Missouri, Spire and Greater St. Louis Inc. were providing support. A spokeswoman for Greater said that support hasn't yet been given, pending approvals.
The Greater spokeswoman also said there are currently 350 employees working at the O'Fallon facility, previously held by MEMC Electronic Materials. Some 215 of those workers are on the production line, she said.
GlobalFoundries said it is investing $1.4 billion this year to expand manufacturing capacity, boosting its need for wafers, like those made by GlobalWafers. The two companies have a "long and ongoing relationship" for supplying 200 millimeter silicon-on-insulator wafers, they said.
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