The $20 billion Intel project in Licking County won't be completed on schedule.
Intel had originally targeted production to begin in 2025, but construction on the computer chip manufacturing facility now isn't expected to be complete until late 2026.
In a statement to CRN, an Intel spokesperson said, "We will not meet the aggressive 2025 production goal that we anticipated when we first announced the selection of Ohio in January, 2022," but "construction has been underway since breaking ground in late 2022 and we have not made any recent changes to our pace of construction or anticipated timelines."
"We’re proud to be building in the Silicon Heartland," according to the statement. "We remain fully committed to the project and are continuing to make progress on the construction of the factory and supporting facilities this year. ... We broke ground on Ohio One ahead of schedule and we are maintaining construction progress. Typical construction timelines for semiconductor manufacturing facilities are 3-5 years from groundbreaking, depending on a range of factors."
The delay comes amid slowing demand for semiconductors and a slow rollout of federal CHIPS Act funding aimed at growing the industry domestically.
Licking County Board of Commissioners President Duane Flowers told WOSU the delay doesn't come as too much of a surprise. He said the county has much smaller projects than the behemoth 1,000 acre Intel site that get delayed all the time.
"I've also been a contractor myself for 55 years and it was almost a guarantee that delays will happen. I understand the process and post-COVID has made even more delays especially when it comes to shipping, manufacturing and products made overseas," Flowers said.
The city of New Albany says in a statement Intel is a strong community partner and the company has reiterated its full commitment to the project.
