Sematech, the US semiconductor industry’s planned co-operative for developing and proving leading edge chip fabrication technology is due to announce its choice of a base for its plant tomorrow – and while locations in 12 states are still nominally in the running, Electronic News hears that Massachusetts is now the somewhat surprising front-runner. If the votes do come out in favour of Massachusetts, the clincher will have been a $200m line of credit to Sematech offered at a favourable rate of interest by the state’s finance agency. The New England state is offering Sematech a lease on the Massachusetts Microelectronics Center in Westboro at a nominal fee, saving it another $18m. Other states offering substantial financial inducements are California, Arizona, and Texas.
