For anyone who has driven north on I-85 in the last couple years, you can’t miss it. The SK Innovation electric battery plant was one of the largest projects in Georgia history and seems like it stretches from one exit to the next outside Commerce. Now, SK has announced their next Georgia project, a nearly $500 million manufacturing facility for glass-based semiconductor chip parts in Newton County.
“This announcement is a prime example of Georgia being at the forefront of addressing one of our nation’s most pressing supply chain roadblocks, which has affected so many U.S. manufacturers,” said Governor Brian Kemp. “This decision by SKC speaks not only to the success they have found since first locating in Georgia, but also to the shared commitment we have in creating bold, innovative solutions right here in our state. Georgia’s workforce is trained, skilled, and ready to excel in the jobs of the future.”
As it turns out, the Director of New Business Development for the SK subsidiary involved in the project was a Georgia Tech professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Dr. Sung Jin Kim helped to develop the technology involved through his research with the Georgia Tech Packaging Research Center. He must have liked it and been impressed with students and the area.
“SKC strived to develop innovative technology solutions by working with major U.S.-based semiconductor players for many years. The initial scientific research outcomes at Georgia Tech greatly inspired our disruptive, glass-based semiconductor solutions,” said Dr. Sung Jin Kim, SKC Director of New Business Development. “Our new technology will be key in enabling utmost performance with minimal power consumptions for high-performance computing, as well as for high-speed communication applications, and this technology is scalable for many other technology needs. Georgia will be a basecamp for SKC’s AI and high-speed data center semiconductor applications.”
The location of the new factory comes at a time when the United States, and really the globe, is facing a semiconductor chip shortage. The shortage has been caused by a range of factors, many far removed from your neighbor trying to buy a new car that is now not available because Ford is waiting on chips: the U.S.-China trade war resulted in restrictions placed on China’s biggest chip manufacturer, a drought in Taiwan hampered the ability of one the world’s leading chip-related manufacturers to clean their factories and chip parts (that companies facilities in Taiwan use more than 60,000 TONS of water per day), and a fire at a Japanese factory shut down a major manufacturer of micro-controllers used in cars.
Unfortunately, the U.S. produces very few of our own chips so we are at the whims of global markets on chips as much as nearly any product – and few, if any, other products are as important as chips. The new factory from SK will help to change that.
“SKC’s investment in Newton County, Georgia, will directly support the desperately needed domestic manufacturing of semiconductors. It also speaks to the level of commitment Georgia brings to the table and the assets we provide companies seeking success here. To be able to announce that SK Group, one of the first Korean investors in Georgia, is once again choosing to do business here is yet another testament to the thriving relationship between our countries,” said Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson.
