Business Facilities - May 2008 - (Page 15)

February 2007 Production begins on memory chips at the Lehi facility, still under construction. March 2008 Construction is completed and more than 1,600 employees work at IM Flash in Lehi, producing flash memory for use in consumer electronics, removable storage, and handheld communications devices. engineering. Mortensen notes that Lehi’s location allowed IM Flash to draw workers from both Salt Lake and Utah counties, Utah’s two largest population centers. According to Baglee, finding talented people for those jobs was made easier thanks to the engineering and science programs at the University of Utah, Utah State University, and Brigham Young University. “They have been producing really top-notch graduates here for many years, and the lack of high-tech indusSo, between those two incentives we can be extremely competitive with anyone in the United States, and the most important part about [them is] they are strictly post performance. Money is only given to a company after they’ve already made the investment in the state of Utah. We want to encourage [companies] to grow as big as they can as quickly as they can. Sometimes we set the percentage, and let them grow as quickly as they’d like, and it doesn’t artificially create a cap on some deals. BF: Are there negotiations over the incentives? Perry: There’s not a whole lot of negotiation. When a company makes an application to the state, it tells us what its desires are. We always know how much they’re looking for, and sometimes it’s very realistic, sometimes it’s not so realistic. But they provide the financials and we run the model. It’s an producing really top-notch graduates here for many years, and the lack of high-tech industry in Utah really drove people to leave the state. —Dave Baglee, Co-chief Executive Officer, IM Flash “ They have been ” try in Utah really drove people to leave the state,” Baglee says. “One of the things we found when we started up the factory, we got a lot of exgraduates and people who were from Utah, wanting to come back to Utah. So it was just a great place to go hire.” Baglee, in his prior 20 years with Intel, had never seen a startup turned around as quickly as IM Flash in Lehi. The aggressiveness was essential, he says, as the industry demands the quickest possible product-tomarket time. In fact, he adds, “We’re jobs, particularly manufacturing jobs, because they pay nearly 150% of the average in the state. Those are the kinds of wages we ought to be attracting to the state. BF: Can you tell me about the changes that have happened in Lehi because of IM Flash? Jamie Davidson, Administrator, City of Lehi: When we go out and talk to potential individuals who want to [invest] in our community, they’re aware of the fact that [IM Flash] is here. Many [companies] that have come here do business with them. And I’m not saying that as a result of [IM Flash] we’ve had this huge influx of manufacturing, commercial, and offices, but a good number of people that do business with IM Flash want to be in close proximity to them, so they come to Lehi and in the proximity of Lehi to be around that IM Flash facility. important point, because our incentives are always consistent in terms of how the numbers are derived and also in terms of how we recruit that particular industry. We don’t really want to get into a process where if you’re a bad negotiator you get a bad deal, or if you’re a good one you get a good deal. We try to give the right kind of deal to every company. BF: What do you think of the incentive package that IM Flash was given in 2006? Tom Bingham, President, Utah Manufacturers Association: I think it was appropriate, and the reason that we’re supportive is because when you look at those incentives, they have some requirements [such as companies] paying in excess of the average wage and creating an economic benefit to the state that lives on. So, we thought that was appropriate and think it’s appropriate with others who are bringing in PHOTO CREDITS: IM FLASH TECHNOLOGIES BUSINESS FACILITIES 15

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Business Facilities - May 2008 Contents First Word Snapshots The UK's Most Lucrative Locations, Pound for Pound Economic Development in a Flash Corporate Moves: Massachusetts Florida: A Ripe Climate for Innovation Innovating Big in Rhode IIsland Retail Set to Ride Out a Recession Corporate Moves: New Jersey South Carolina: A Sweet Spot in the Southeast Endless Opportunities in North Carolina Economic Awakening in the Mohawk Valley Metro Spotlight: Alexandria, LA Where Call Centers Call Home Texas Receives First Business Facilities State of the Year Award Advertiser Index Inside Livexchange

Business Facilities - May 2008

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