EAST FISHKILL — Peter Locke and Hervé Kermel have worked together in tech manufacturing in East Fishkill for almost three decades. Over that time, the computer chip factory that employs them has changed hands several times, from IBM to GlobalFoundries to Onsemi, an Arizona-based global semiconductor company that officially took over the facility on Jan. 1.
But while the logo on the building and the technology on the floor have changed, the duo’s everyday work has stayed pretty consistent.
“I love what I do,” Locke, of Hopewell Junction, said. “It’s pretty cool to spend 26 years (in the same job), and I’d say a lot of the time, I love coming to work. And that’s not taken lightly. It’s the people you work with, the people you manage.”
On Friday, Locke and Kermel explained how to make semiconductor chips during a ribbon-cutting tour of the Onsemi facility at iPark 84, a sprawling mixed-use tech and retail campus in this Dutchess County town. The passion for their jobs was evident in their voices as they showed off wafers made of hundreds of chips and peered through glass walls at workers and robots toiling on the floor.
Once Onsemi completed its $430 million acquisition of the East Fishkill plant, it retained the more than 1,000 workers employed by GlobalFoundries and hired 100 more. Onsemi has committed $1.3 billion to the site, some of which is being spent now and some of which will be invested in the company’s long-term plans, which include an expansion.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer holds a semiconductor wafer as he talks during a press conference at Onsemi in East Fishkill on Feb. 10.
Kelly Marsh / Special to the Times UnionCentral to the company’s vision for the Dutchess County site is launching the country’s first 12-inch power discrete image sensor fabricator. These image sensors will be critical in developing cars that drive themselves, Onsemi CEO Hassane El-Khoury explained on Friday.
“It’s not only the largest but also the most advanced manufacturing site for us,” El-Khoury said Friday. Also on hand for the event were U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, a representative of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and several local dignitaries.
“This is the jolt of electricity that the Hudson Valley needs,” Schumer said. “And it shows that this facility, these workers are ready to lead the charge in rebuilding America’s semiconductor industry, and guess what’s going to be at the center of the semiconductor manufacturing in the country? Upstate New York and the Hudson Valley.”
The Onsemi acquisition follows other major announcements of local tech investments in the region. In October, President Joe Biden visited Poughkeepsie to celebrate IBM’s $20 million investment in its plant. Last fall, Micron, one of the world’s largest computer chip manufacturers, announced plans to build a $100 million semiconductor factory near Syracuse. And in January, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that Zinc8, a Canadian-based energy-storage startup, is building its headquarters at the former IBM/TechCity campus in the town of Ulster.
Beyond a mere welcome celebration, the event served as an opportunity for Schumer and Onsemi to put the tech company on the Biden administration’s radar for when it likely applies for CHIPS and Science Act funding.
“The fact that in the CHIPS bill, we made sure that this stuff would be made in America, and not repeat the mistake of manufacturing and letting everything go overseas … means that Onsemi is better positioned than most of their competitors, certainly in the North American market and the markets throughout the globe,” Schumer said.
Though much of Friday’s fanfare focused on the future technology Onsemi will be working on, El-Khoury made it a point in his remarks to say his business is really centered on the people who work there.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, left, shakes hands with Stance Mason, section head of logistics for Onsemi, during a news conference at Onsemi in East Fishkill on Feb. 10.
Kelly Marsh / Special to the Times Union“We do believe in the site and we believe in the people that fill it,” El-Khoury said.
He invited employee Stance Mason to tell the small crowd about his experiences. Mason, who previously worked as an aircraft mechanic in the U.S. Air Force, lives in Wappingers Falls with his wife, two children and their 22-year-old cat. He started as a security guard at the East Fishkill site in 2010. Through conversations with employees and visitors, he began learning about the technology being made there. A couple of engineering and science degrees later, and many long hours spent studying, Mason worked his way up to become a section head for logistics at Onsemi.
“I’m excited to do great things at Onsemi in the future,” Mason said. “Let’s do it together.”
The amount of money onsemi plans to invest in the East Fishkill site has been corrected. The company will invest $1.3 billion.
