IDAHO SPOTLIGHT
Micron Hiring 900 for Boise Operation
Idaho's best known high-tech name and its largest employer in the sector is Boise- headquartered Micron. The semiconductor specialist is in the midst of hiring 900 people for its home base, including operators, technicians, engineers and support staff. The company already employs about 10,000 in Boise. Some of the jobs are to fill those created by normal attrition, but the majority represent new hires. The impetus for the job growth is multi- pronged, says spokesman Dan Francisco.
"Business has been successful for us and we've had back- to- back years of profitability," Francisco says. "We have a strategy of diversifying our product portfolio, moving from our primary product, DRAM for PCs."
Francisco says Micron's joint venture with Intel to manufacture NAND flash memory is driving some of the job growth as is expansion into IM Flash technology. He says the company is working steadily to fill the jobs, but has no specific timetable. Micron is also adding jobs in Lehigh, Utah, and Manassas, Va., he says.
Idaho's Population Growing As Industry Adds Jobs
Idaho is adding residents at an impressive clip. From July 1, 2004, to July 1, 2005, the state added nearly 34,000 residents, a 2.4-percent increase and the third highest rate in the U.S.
Roger Madsen, director of the Idaho Dept. of Commerce & Labor, expects the state to build on several 2005 manufacturing successes, many of which came in the state's Magic Valley in the south-central part of the state. These include:
- Hilex Poly Company's plastic bag manufacturing facility in Jerome, projected to employ 200 by 2007.
- Gossner Cheese's $25-million Swiss cheese factory in Heyburn that employs 50 and purchases more than a million pounds of milk per day from Idaho dairy farmers.
- Marathon Cheese's new processing plant in Mountain Home that will eventually create more than 550 jobs.
