SCOTTSDALE, AZ – ASM International N.V., the world’s fastest growing semiconductor equipment company and a global leader in the atomic layer deposition market, has announced plans for a new expansion in North America to accommodate the growing demand for research and development in the semiconductor industry.
The company is investing more than $300 million over a period of up to five years to design and build the new state-of-the-art facility on more than 20 acres in Scottsdale, Arizona. This total investment is a combination of capital expenditures related to infrastructure and laboratory equipment, and includes operating expenses such as the additional research and engineering jobs created with the expansion.
ASM CEO Benjamin Loh and ASM executive management celebrated the announcement in Scottsdale along with Governor Katie Hobbs, Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega, Sandra Watson, President and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority, Chris Camacho, President and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, and industry and community leaders.
“Arizona is proud to celebrate ASM’s high-tech expansion, a project that further solidifies Arizona’s leadership in semiconductors and strengthens U.S. resiliency and competitiveness,” said Governor Hobbs. “We are grateful to celebrate this new milestone in the Arizona-Arizona partnership and thank ASM for its continued commitment to Arizona.”
“ASM’s Arizona facility has always been a key center for the development of leading-edge technologies that have enabled many advances in the global semiconductor industry,” said Benjamin Loh, CEO of ASM. “The investment in our new Scottsdale facility will substantially expand our research and development activities, further strengthening Arizona as a world-class semiconductor innovation center.”
The new North American headquarters will occupy 250,000 square feet, more than double the size of the current facility. The global technology and innovation center will house diverse functions under one roof, enabling ASM departments to collaborate more efficiently. This includes investment in state-of-the-art laboratory equipment and state-of-the-art infrastructure, not only for research and development, but also for renewable energy, a water recycling facility and other sustainability features. Some of ASM’s global operations and corporate support functions will also be on site, including supply chain, manufacturing engineering, a Global Training Center, and the Global Software Team.
ASM established its North American headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona in 1976 and was one of Arizona’s first semiconductor equipment companies. ASM has seven R&D centers and four manufacturing plants around the world, and its global headquarters are located in the Netherlands.
ASM equipment is a key technology for the integrated circuit semiconductor chips needed to manufacture the electronic products that consumers and businesses use everywhere. Specializing in the wafer equipment market, ASM focuses on thin film deposition, designing, manufacturing, selling and servicing deposition tools to supply customers with advanced technologies used in wafer fabrication plants.
The company currently employs more than 800 people in Arizona and plans to hire about 500 more over the next six years, creating new employment opportunities in engineering as well as research and development. The site will be designed as a destination to work, with a variety of amenities that will help employees with their work and overall well-being.
ASM also announced a new partnership with the Arizona Sustainability Alliance (AZSA), in which it will support AZSA with a $240,000 investment over three years for its urban forestry tree planting and associated education initiatives and its annual events such as the Sustainability Celebration and Conservation Invasion.
