Silicon Firm to Expand Northward
By Courtney Sherwood, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.
Oct. 9–A fast-growing Vancouver silicon firm has announced plans to expand its manufacturing operations north into Cowlitz County.
Silicon & Solar LLC will maintain its Hazel Dell headquarters, where 12 people work, and will invest $8 million to $10 million in capital costs in Longview by the end of this year, said Kenneth Standing, vice president of operations and chief technology officer. There, the company will refurbish damaged silicon wafers used by the semiconductor industry, to resell them for use in semiconductor and solar cell manufacturing.
The 25,000-square-foot manufacturing division will employ nine people by the end of the year and 20 by summer, Standing said.
Tax incentives convinced Silicon & Solar to expand into Longview, Standing said. “It helps cover some of our incurred costs for personnel and overhead.”
Because the state considers Cowlitz County an economically distressed rural county by the state, manufacturers there qualify for tax breaks that aren’t available in Clark County, said Corey Balkan, vice president of the Cowlitz Economic Development Council.
Manufacturers moving to Cowlitz County are exempt from sales and use tax on construction and manufacturing equipment costs, and they get a business and occupation tax credit of $2,000 to $4,000 per new job created.
In addition, Silicon & Solar is eligible for several statewide B&O tax breaks aimed at solar industry and silicon industry manufacturers.
High-tech niche
Silicon & Solar was founded seven years ago as a silicon brokerage, buying and selling the silicon wafers that are used to make computer chips. The company moved into recycling in response to a global shortage of polysilicate, a raw material used to make both chips and solar power generators.
“In the past, wafers used for testing and setting up manufacturing lines have literally been thrown away, which is not good for the environment,” Standing said.
“With the advent of a worldwide silicon shortage, we have expanded our business to include silicon wafer reclaim, silicon salvage for solar applications and brokerage of light manufacturing processes.”
The new manufacturing site will allow Silicon & Solar to further expand its reclamation and recycling, and to also reuse a greater share of the other materials involved in silicon wafer production.
The company plans to maintain its headquarters in Vancouver, which will give it better access to Clark County and Portland silicon industry manufacturers, and proximity to Portland International Airport.
Silicon & Solar customers exist around the world, chief executive Renie Duvall said in an interview in August. Duvall travels regularly to Asia to meet with clients, and was -unavailable Monday because of a work trip to Germany.
Company officials would not disclose revenue figures, but Standing said that Silicon & Solar is highly profitable.
“We owe no one. When we buy equipment — and this equipment is not cheap — we just pay for it,” he said. “We pay as we go.”
Those profits depend on a shortage of one of the most common elements on the planet.
“Polysilicate is basically refined sand,” Standing said. But manufacture of refined polysilicate is a costly process, and to date, expanded production has not kept up with growing demand from computer chip and solar industry manufacturers.
“We estimate that in five to six years, additional capacity will come on line, and while there will still be the demand, the average selling price will go down,” Standing said.
Even so, he projects continued growth at Silicon & Solar.
“We have not had to advertise or promote ourselves, and we have very, very large semiconductor companies coming to us,” Standing said. “Before, they were throwing products away, and now they can save a lot of money.”
Silicon & Solar LLC
– What: Reclaims and recycles silicon wafers.
– Who: Renie Duvall, president and chief executive officer; Kenneth Standing, vice president and chief technology officer.
– Where: 411 N.E. Repass Road, Vancouver.
– Employees: 12.
– Online: www.siliconsolar.net .
– What’s next: A new manufacturing plant in Longview will employ 20 people by summer, officials said.
Courtney Sherwood covers the silicon industry. Reach her at 360-759-8041 or courtney.sherwood@columbian.com
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.
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