By Corina Vanek and Ronald J. Hansen || Arizona Republic
President Joe Biden will be in Phoenix on Dec. 6 to recognize a milestone in the development of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. facility in north Phoenix.
The event will celebrate the “first tool-in,” which marks when the building is ready for the first of the manufacturing equipment to be moved inside.
It will be Biden’s first visit to Arizona as president.
TSMC bought 1,128 acres of land in late 2020 and began construction at its site in north Phoenix near Interstate 17 and Loop 303 in April 2021. The first phase of the facility represents a $12 billion investment, the largest foreign direct investment in Arizona history.
The semiconductor fabrication facility, or fab, is expected to be operational in 2024. Hiring has been underway for the facility, and TSMC expects to have more than 2,000 people working at the Arizona facility by next year.
Growing the United States’ semiconductor manufacturing environment has been an administration priority. Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act in August, which provides up to $52 billion to help grow the country’s production of semiconductors and related technologies as the world faces a global shortage. Arizona Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly were major backers of the legislation, which aimed to decrease the country’s dependence on foreign manufacturing for microchips.
