By Mike Dodd, Dioltas Advisory Board Chairman
“Build it and they will come.” The phrase has been used in business for decades—a way of saying, ‘start that company and it will succeed.’ And while baseball fans flocked to the Field of Dreams in the iconic movie from 1989, anyone who has started a business knows, it takes more than just an idea.
It takes that plus dedication, persistence and a solid strategy. Sometimes it also takes incentives, big monetary incentives.
In many ways, the U.S. is the new Field of Dreams. Instead of ball fans, America is attracting microchip makers and in a very big way. Just take a look at recent announcements: Micron has pledged to build a $100BN semiconductor complex in upstate New York. Intel broke ground on a $20BN plant near Columbus, Ohio (with plans to quintuple that investment over two decades).
The list goes on and on with investments totaling hundreds of billions of dollars all across the U.S. In many cases, these chip fabrication plants,
or fabs, are part of a public-private collaborative effort. A prime example is in the Midwest where Skywater, a U.S., home-grown chip maker will build a $1.8BN fab in collaboration with Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana creating some 750 jobs.