PASS THE CHIPS.

• Author: Mildenberg, David
• Position: NCTREND: Statewide

Durham-based Wolfspeed picked western Chatham County for a 1,802-job, $5 billion plant to make the materials used in chips that power electric vehicles.

It's the biggest investment for a project receiving state incentives, and the largest plant using silicon carbide to make chips, a technology that Wolfspeed now dominates. Industry analysts expect silicon carbide chips to make up more than 20% of the power semiconductor market by 2027, versus 5% now.

Wolfspeed says it will open the first phase of the plant in 2024, with additional expansion to follow. It is to be built on a 445-acre tract at the 1,800-acre Chatham-Siler City Advanced Manufacturing Site owned by Greensboro businessmen Tim Booras and D. H. Griffin. It is about 30 miles southeast of Greensboro and within 40 miles of multi-billion plants proposed by Toyota Motor and VinFast, a new Vietnam-based electric vehicle manufacturer.

Wolfspeed may save more than $600 million in property tax payouts and other benefits over the next 20 years under an agreement with Chatham County and Siler City. The amount of those incentives hinge on a variety of metrics, including the number of new employees and pay levels. Salaries are expected to average about $78,000 annually.

The state also approved an incentives package worth more than $159 million, including a grant worth $76 million if Wolfspeed meets its investment and job targets. State lawmakers allocated $57.5 million to support water, road and other infrastructure work at the project. The city of Asheboro's water system is being expanded to serve the plant.

Then there's Uncle Sam: Wolfspeed is likely to tap the federal government after Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes $52...