CO: Expansion of Microchip Facility in Colorado Springs Could Result in 400 New Jobs for El Paso County

A preliminary agreement has been reached that could result in $90 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce to modernize and expand a Microchip fabrication facility in Colorado Springs, as part of $162 million in overall direct funding to support the company's semiconductor supply chain.The move could result in 400 new jobs.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and the Global Business Development Division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) recently joined Microchip, a leading producer of semiconductor devices, and the U.S. Department of Commerce, to announce the historic preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT).

Microchip, which employs nearly 1,000 Colorado workers, is the second semiconductor company to be identified for federal funding through the CHIPS and Science Act and the first in Colorado. This is the largest federal investment in CHIPS manufacturing announced by the Department of Commerce to date. 

“Colorado is a leader in the semiconductor industry and we are proud to have companies like Microchip expanding in our state and creating more good-paying jobs for Coloradans,” said Gov. Polis. “I applaud the federal government's commitment to investing in this cutting-edge industry and appreciate this partnership as Colorado’s semiconductor industry continues to grow.” 

A U.S.-headquartered, public multinational company, Microchip’s product portfolio supports over 125,000 customers across the industrial, automotive, consumer, aerospace and defense, communications and computing markets. This investment would enable Microchip to significantly increase its U.S. production of microcontroller units (MCUs) and other mature-node semiconductors critical to America’s defense, aerospace, auto, commercial, and industrial industries. Together with an expansion at a Microchip fabrication facility in Gresham, Oregon, the Colorado Springs expansion is estimated to nearly triple the share of semiconductors the company produces at these sites. 

“Microchip has made significant investments in our 50-acre, 580,000-square-foot Fab 5 Colorado Springs campus. The $90 million grant from the CHIPS and Science Act further supports our $940 million modernization and expansion, and is expected to assist in more than tripling the chip output from this facility,” said Ganesh Moorthy, president and CEO of Microchip Technology. “We also anticipate the expansion will create 400 additional jobs in the region. Our collaboration with local and state officials, the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce and Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) has been instrumental in getting our proposal across the finish line.”

In Colorado Springs, Microchip will expand several product lines to three to seven times their current capacity. Microchip expects the expansion to create 400 net new jobs at an average annual wage of $75,000, which is 118% of the average annual wage in El Paso County.