Chip maker SkyWater cancels plans for Indiana plant—at least for now
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Plans for a $1.8 billion semiconductor R&D and fabrication facility in West Lafayette are no longer in the works.
Purdue University confirmed to Inside INdiana Business on Friday that Minnesota-based SkyWater Technology will not be constructing the facility at the Discovery Park District that was expected to create 750 jobs.
“SkyWater has released its option on the land but remain a valued partner with research opportunities in the works,” a Purdue spokesman said in a statement to IIB. The university declined to offer any further comment.
The news comes just days after Purdue announced that South Korea-based SK Hynix Inc. plans to invest $4 billion to establish an advanced packaging fabrication and R&D facility for microelectronics at the Purdue Research Park.
SkyWater first announced plans for the 600,000-square-foot facility in July 2022. The company said at the time the plant would allow it to respond to increasing demand for domestic manufacturing of microelectronics.
The company said at the announcement—attended by Gov. Eric Holcomb, then-Indiana Commerce Secretary Brad Chambers and then-Purdue President Mitch Daniels—that the project was dependent on funding from the CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed into law by President Biden the following month.
“As the details of the CHIPS initiative have unfolded over the last year, we have taken the opportunity to reassess our plans for new fab construction in conversations with the State of Indiana,” SkyWater said in an email Friday to IIB. “While we don’t have a definitive plan targeting new fab construction in Indiana, we remain committed to growing the microelectronics ecosystem in the U.S., including Indiana, with emphasis on providing fab access and production support for emerging and strategic technologies.”
Tippecanoe County Commissioner Tom Murtaugh told WLFI-TV that SkyWater did not receive money from the CHIPS program. “That was essential to their model,” he said. “At this point that project is on long term hold.”
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. committed up to more than $70 million in incentives for the project, but Deputy Chief of Staff Erin Sweitzer said the company did not claim any of the incentives.
“While we understand that businesses’ plans and timelines can change for a variety of reasons, Indiana’s microelectronics industry continues to grow at a rapid pace,” Sweitzer said in a statement to IIB. “We remain committed to supporting SkyWater’s growth in Indiana when the federal process is solidified.”