Amkor Technologies made significant progress Tuesday night on the construction of a $2 billion packaging and test complex in the Northwest Valley, with Peoria leaders enthusiastically supporting the agreement to build the project, which will span more than 56 acres.
The Peoria City Council voted unanimously to approve the development agreement, committing Amkor to build the nation's largest semiconductor packaging and test facility and create about 2,000 local jobs in two phases over the next decade.
Peoria Mayor Jason Baker said at Tuesday's conference that Amkor's project marks an important step toward restoring manufacturing jobs in the United States. It also advances microchip technology that can be found in cars, cell phones, and, most importantly, defense systems for Baker.
Baker went on to say that the project adds another part to Peoria, which is about to become a semiconductor hub, and Amkor will anchor a corner of the industrial ** chain and work with nearby Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturing companies.
Amkor, a leading provider of test and packaging semiconductors to major companies such as TSMC and Intel, has approximately 30,000 employees in 11 countries, including South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Portugal and Vietnam, said David McCann, senior vice president of the company.
McCann said Amkor hopes to have the new site ready to start production within two to three years. To that end, it will provide a range of "good jobs," including health care and childcare benefits, continuing education opportunities, and career development.
"We want this to be the most advanced testing facility in the world, and we want it to be in Arizona, USA," he said. ”
Both sides of the agreement take what they need.
Tuesday night's agreement comes about three months since Amkor first announced plans to build a campus in North Peoria. There, it will package and test chips produced for Apple's complex at TSMC.
Under a tripartite agreement with the City and Vistancia Development LLC – which owns the land on which the facility will be built – Amkor agreed to reach a series of milestones, including the completion of the entire project by September 2034.
As part of the first phase, Amkor will first purchase the property from Peoria in October this year. By September 2029, it must employ at least 550 full-time workers and invest at least 3$500 million for site improvement and construction. The company must also start construction by September 2025.
In the second phase, the company will have to invest another 3$500 million and 300 additional full-time employees.
If the company fails to hire the minimum number of employees by the milestone date, it will pay $5,000 per month, but not more than $2.4 million, until the agreed target is reached. If the company fails to meet the required 3A minimum investment of $500 million will be owed about $6.3 million in damages.
According to the agreement, Peoria will be responsible for building roads and developing public facilities on the land. It will then receive $3 million in public infrastructure compensation from the city.
Water treatment.
Amkor will pay 50% of the costs associated with reclaimed water treatment over the next 10 years. The company must also return at least 80% of the wastewater to the municipality after it has passed through the industrial pretreatment procedure**.
Foster added that the city of Peoria and Amkor also agreed to jointly design and build a water facility "in principle." "Some of that might include processing at their sites — which it really is — but we've also talked about some of the public-private projects and how we can use those projects for the benefit of the community," Foster said.
For the use of water resources, the parties ultimately agreed that the City would provide up to 980,000 gallons of reclaimed water per day to Amkor during the first phase of the project, for a total of $1 in the two phases960,000 gallons.
According to the project's legal and financial analysis, the construction and operation of the project will generate $50 million for the state, $16 million for the county, and $15 million in tax revenue for the city over the next decade. With the launch of the project, the city of Peoria will be closer to achieving its goal of becoming a semiconductor hub.