The Utah Business and Economic Development Division director believes the news media have been unfair in reporting about the "incentives" given to Micron Technology to build a $2.5 billion computer chip manufacturing facility in Lehi.
Rick Mayfield said reporters should differentiate the money being spent on infrastructure that will benefit others besides Micron and that many news reports have overblown what Micron was offered to build the plant.Mayfield told members of the Utah Business and Economic Development Board that nobody has said anything about what was offered American Stores to build its 24-story corporate headquarters building at 300 South and Main because the infrastructure, the roads, sewer lines and water lines, are already in place.
In Micron's situation, the plant is being built on virgin ground so the roads, sewer lines and water lines must be extended to accommodate the new buildings. He said some news reports figure the $123 million in "incentives" is too hefty a price to pay, he said.
Mayfield said the infrastructure additions eventually will benefit everybody in the community. Also, because Novell is trying to sell the Microsoft portion of the company, the possibility that hundreds of workers will be laid off means attracting Micron came at the right time to save some of the jobs, Mayfield said.
The proximity between Brigham Young University and the University of Utah means research connections between them and Micron will be a big benefit to the state, Mayfield said.
Two board members said in their travels, people from other states are envious that Utah landed the Micron facility. They said the 3,500 jobs and $2.5 billion expenditure is the biggest single construction job in the state's history and it will be a big benefit.
One board member said some Utah businesses already are benefiting from Micron's presence. For example, Roy-based Iomega announced it is going to sell drives for storage units to Micron.