Intel picks Ohio for semiconductor project (Columbus, Oregon: 2014, rent, how much)

[Wile E. Coyote]

Originally Posted by dustin183

Interesting fact: both the OSU President and the Intel CEO have master's degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford. I'm sure having a good research partner in OSU was a selling point.

(for clarity OSU President has a master's and PhD in EE from Stanford, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has a master's in EE and Computer Science from Stanford)

I guess it all adds up to make central Ohio a clear winner

Has more to do with taxes, land and water.

[216facts]

Originally Posted by Natural510

I normally despite corporate welfare and relocation incentives, because they rarely benefit the area which the corporation blackmail...er, negotiates, but I think this case is an exception. This isn't Amazon, which only builds distribution facilities which create blue-collar and a few middle-management jobs, otherwise add nothing else to the area. Intel will create partnerships & corresponding jobs with affiliates in the area (similar to a Honda), a mutually beneficial relationship with Ohio State, and, probably most importantly, put Columbus and the Midwest in general on the map as a center for tech and could make it a tech destination like Austin or Atlanta (weather aside).
It's best to view this deal through a long-term lens.

^Agree with this.

Look at how the Honda of America MFG worked out for Ohio, continues to employ and invest decades after Rhodes got them to choose Ohio. So yeah, this Intel investment is a really good thing for Ohio and Columbus.

[dustin183]

Originally Posted by Wile E. Coyote

Has more to do with taxes, land and water.

There are lots of places that meet the taxes/land/water requirement.

But only one OSU with an electrical engineering PhD president!

[Wile E. Coyote]

Originally Posted by dustin183

There are lots of places that meet the taxes/land/water requirement.

But only one OSU with an electrical engineering PhD president!

Wrong; it's the bottom line.

[SlideRules99]

Originally Posted by Wile E. Coyote

Wrong; it's the bottom line.

Intel, like any good company, does robust financial analyses to drive business decisions.

What’s been stated through interviews is that OH did NOT offer the most lucrative set of tax incentives. (One other state was more generous). I believe that was in a Dispatch article link I shared earlier in this thread, and unfortunately I lost access due to a paywall.

Clearly there were additional factors tipping the scales toward OH, in terms of the total package.

The presence of high quality educational institutions, assuring a good (local) pipeline of qualified Tech workers (talent pool), was cited as a key advantage for OH.

From Intel’s Keyvan Esfajani:

“Ohio came in on the top, not just for one thing, but it was the entire package. No, if you look at Ohio from the completeness on those three elements that I talked about, Ohio comes to the top, the talent pool, the infrastructure, the regulatory environment and the team. We started this process. This team worked 24 by seven for the last nine months working with us. Everything we asked for, they came back even stronger. That's why we love Ohio,” Esfajani said.

https://news.wosu.org/2022-01-24/ohi...-to-lure-intel

Whether the PhD EE president of OSU was an influencer is up for debate. But obviously there is no downside to that.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Originally Posted by SlideRules99

Intel, like any good company, does robust financial analyses to drive business decisions.

What’s been stated through interviews is that OH did NOT offer the most lucrative set of tax incentives. (One other state was more generous). I believe that was in a Dispatch article link I shared earlier in this thread, and unfortunately I lost access due to a paywall.

Clearly there were additional factors tipping the scales toward OH, in terms of the total package.

The presence of high quality educational institutions, assuring a good (local) pipeline of qualified Tech workers (talent pool), was cited as a key advantage for OH.

From Intel’s Keyvan Esfajani:

“Ohio came in on the top, not just for one thing, but it was the entire package. No, if you look at Ohio from the completeness on those three elements that I talked about, Ohio comes to the top, the talent pool, the infrastructure, the regulatory environment and the team. We started this process. This team worked 24 by seven for the last nine months working with us. Everything we asked for, they came back even stronger. That's why we love Ohio,” Esfajani said.

https://news.wosu.org/2022-01-24/ohi...-to-lure-intel

Whether the PhD EE president of OSU was an influencer is up for debate. But obviously there is no downside to that.

If there wasn't water and tax breaks it wouldn't have happened. They had no problem recruiting the best and brightest and moving them in the past.

[SlideRules99]

Originally Posted by Wile E. Coyote

If there wasn't water and tax breaks it wouldn't have happened. They had no problem recruiting the best and brightest and moving them in the past.

Of course it wouldn’t have happened without water and tax breaks. Those were pre-requisites for all the prospective sites that responded with bids, including the losing state that offered better tax incentives than OH.

Not sure why you think the local educational institutions and workforce talent pool were not factors in Intel’s final site selection. The company has stated publicly that these were important considerations, and cited Ohio’s strengths in this area.

BTW, relocation packages, even for new college graduates, may run $20K+. And even higher than that for experienced employee transfers within Intel, depending on grade level. So there is an obvious cost to not having local talent.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Originally Posted by SlideRules99

Of course it wouldn’t have happened without water and tax breaks. Those were pre-requisites for all the prospective sites that responded with bids, including the losing state that offered better tax incentives than OH.

Not sure why you think the local educational institutions and workforce talent pool were not factors in Intel’s final site selection. The company has stated publicly that these were important considerations, and cited Ohio’s strengths in this area.

BTW, relocation packages, even for new college graduates, may run $20K+. And even higher than that for experienced employee transfers within Intel, depending on grade level. So there is an obvious cost to naving local talent.

I worked there and I know how many people moved into the area to take those jobs (they always got a lot of good people out of the best educational institutions). Intel on your resume is an E ticket . They are likely looking at being able to attract people to a cheaper real estate market. Ya'll should invest in rentals and generally residential real estate in the area.

[SlideRules99]

Originally Posted by Wile E. Coyote

I worked there and I know how many people moved into the area to take those jobs (they always got a lot of good people out of the best educational institutions). Intel on your resume is an E ticket . They are likely looking at being able to attract people to a cheaper real estate market. Ya'll should invest in rentals and generally residential real estate in the area.

Cool, fellow Intel alum…

We spent a ton of relo $$ pulling college grads into some of those Intel sites to take those jobs. I would have preferred a stronger local pool of grads in areas like Hillsboro and Folsom. It would have been much more cost effective, and I would have done a better job hitting my budget targets.

As I’m sure you know, Intel does not have the same cachet/cool factor as it once did with college grads, or younger folks in general. This is a well-known challenge within HR. If OH site did not have such a wealth of local tech grads within, say, a 4 hr radius…it would make staffing much more difficult and certainly more expensive. This is why they repeatedly cite the local talent pool as a benefit.

23-year olds from the west coast or east coast are not busting at the seams to move to central Ohio. Some folks at a certain life stage will opt for the cheaper real estate in OH, true, but not enough to staff many thousands of positions from afar.

Intel was therefore wise to choose a location with all the land/water requirements, great tax incentives, and superb local educational institutions.

If you continue to believe the local talent pool played no role, in spite of them saying it did, you’re entitled to that belief.

Over and out.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Originally Posted by dustin183

There are lots of places that meet the taxes/land/water requirement.

But only one OSU with an electrical engineering PhD president!

Originally Posted by SlideRules99

Cool, fellow Intel alum…

We spent a ton of relo $$ pulling college grads into some of those Intel sites to take those jobs. I would have preferred a stronger local pool of grads in areas like Hillsboro and Folsom. It would have been much more cost effective, and I would have done a better job hitting my budget targets.

As I’m sure you know, Intel does not have the same cachet/cool factor as it once did with college grads, or younger folks in general. This is a well-known challenge within HR. If OH site did not have such a wealth of local tech grads within, say, a 4 hr radius…it would make staffing much more difficult and certainly more expensive. This is why they repeatedly cite the local talent pool as a benefit.

23-year olds from the west coast or east coast are not busting at the seams to move to central Ohio. Some folks at a certain life stage will opt for the cheaper real estate in OH, true, but not enough to staff many thousands of positions from afar.

Intel was therefore wise to choose a location with all the land/water requirements, great tax incentives, and superb local educational institutions.

If you continue to believe the local talent pool played no role, in spite of them saying it did, you’re entitled to that belief.

Over and out.

I never stated that and I never believed that. My response was to the above poster claiming one PhD was the reason. Also, not to get too excited because it will still be extremely competitive for the best slots. I have not got that much of an idea surrounding IT Pros and Engineers as I am speaking of Finance people.

Yes, I was there long ago (now) back in 2000ish for a few years only. And, I assume it's obviously a lot different now. Even at the time a lot of people preferred to get their feet in the door at a start up (and other tech companies were even cooler, etc., etc.). It never stopped benefitting me having Intel on my resume though... I personally worked in Santa Clara with people from UC Berkeley, Duke University, University of Michigan, Stanford (and I came from a lowly Cal State U)... Lots of people from the Mid West for sure were there during that time.

I do think young and current employees will consider a move to Ohio (they obviously cannot staff with only new people). Ohio might be a very good place to ride out Climate Change (if you believe in that sort of thing)... Real Estate prices are freakishly unaffordable in Silicon Valley, very unaffordable in the Hillsboro area, and I'm not sure about Arizona (but, it's likely similar to Hillsboro)...

It will be an interesting story to follow as it develops