COVINGTON, Ga. (AP) — The federal government will spend $75 million to build a factory in Covington, Georgia, that will make glass components for computer chips.
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced the investment in Absolix, a subsidiary of South Korea's SK Group, on Thursday.
The plant was announced in 2021. The company said Thursday it plans to invest more than $300 million in the first phase and hire 200 workers, with more money and more jobs to come, spokeswoman Kelsey Flora said.
Flora said construction is underway and test batch production has begun, with production expected to begin ramping up in 2025.
The plant will make glass substrates used in packaging semiconductors that federal officials say will allow for denser connections between chips, resulting in faster computers that use less power.
The Commerce Department said this marks the first time the CHIPS/Science Act has been used to fund factories that make new advanced materials for semiconductors. The 2022 federal law authorized $280 billion in spending to support semiconductor research and manufacturing in the United States.
The technology was developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, and SK Group hired former researchers from the university to help commercialize the board.
SK Group owns a neighboring plant that makes polyester film that can be used for solar panels, packaging and other uses. The South Korean conglomerate also owns a $2.6 billion facility in Commerce, northeast of Atlanta, that makes electric vehicle batteries.
