The high hopes of Massachusetts that it would be chosen as the site for the Sematech chip manufacturing technology co-operative (CI No 839) were dashed yesterday when the site was named as Austin, Texas, already the home of the Microelectronics & Computer Technology Corp co-op. As a consolation prize, the 11 other finalists – Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Wisconsin, will each get $50,000 planning grants to submit proposals for university centers of excellence, several of which are planned. Key considerations in Sematech’s decision to choose Austin were an existing facility, extensive state and local government support and strong financial package. Sematech is to start moving in this quarter and to be processing semiconductor wafers there before the end of the year.
