Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron Technology, Discussed the Future Benefits of Cutting Edge Memory Manufacturing in Boise and USA During 2023 October CEO Speaker Series

Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron Technology, discussed the future benefits of cutting edge memory manufacturing in Boise and the USA during his fireside chat with Dr. Marlene Tromp, President of Boise State University, at the Boise Metro Chamber's second 2023 CEO Speaker Series. The event took place at the Stueckle Sky Center.

Today is the eve of Micron's 45th birthday. It humbly began in 1978 with four founding members in the basement of a dental office on Cole Road. Today it is a 30 billion dollar global company with 40,000 employees in 17 countries that represent 67 nationalities, and over 54,000 patents.

During the CEO Speaker Series event, Mehrotra talked about the $15 billion expansion of Micron's Boise campus which will be the size of 10 football fields. "Micron is a great source of pride for Boise and the United States," stated Mehrotra. "We are working hard to help develop and advance the workforce for the future starting with a dedication to bringing back production to Boise and the United States." He said the facility is estimated to bring 2,000 direct jobs and 15,000 community jobs over the next ten years. "This expansion project will improve wages in the community and aide child poverty." 

The leading edge memory fabrication plant is expected to be completed by the end of 2025 with production starting in 2026. With it, Micron will invest further in K-12 STEM programs, and work with colleges and universities to provide education training. Mehrotra said, "Micron is striving to put in place a workforce that’s under represented in society - women, people of color, veterans, and rural populations. Chip camp, targets middle school students, and aims to spark their interest in STEM fields. It began with 50 students and now has over 1,000." Without this type of intervention, studies suggest there will a be a shortage of 67,000+ semiconductor workers in the nation by the end of 2030.

"Currently only 2% of memory is made in the U.S., and it is all produced by Micron," shared Mehrotra.  Micron has its sites set on increasing domestic production over the next two decades through the manufacturing plant in Boise, and a megafab, which will be the largest semiconductor fabrication facility in the United state, in Syracuse, New York. These plants will, "Strengthen U.S. technology leadership as well as economic and national security, driving American innovation and competitiveness for decades to come," according to Sanjay Mehrotra.

He predicts Micron will have a very important role in the development of AI since Micron is creating the industry's fasted high bandwidth memory (HBM) which is also low powered. As AI continues to develop it will rely more heavily on memory and Micron is poised to grow alongside it. 

"This is going to be an exciting decade plus for Boise," said Mehrotra as the event drew to a close. He thanked Dr. Marlene Tromp and Boise State University for being one of their biggest sources of recruiting, BVEP for it's partnership, and Mayor Lauren McLean and Governor Brad Little for their support.

The Presenting Sponsor for all our CEO speaker events is Bank of America. Other sponsors included the Idaho Business Review, ESI Construction, the Boise Airport, Exyte, and Perkins-Coie.  

There will be one more CEO Speaker Series in 2023. It will feature the Boise Metro Chamber's new president & CEO, Bobbi-Jo Meuleman. Watch our event calendar for details.​