The Boise, Idaho-based memory chip maker had earlier announced that its $500 million deal with Intel Corp. to provide NAND-style flash memory for Apple's iPod line would spark its mostly mothballed plant to life in early 2007. But the company has been spare in its details on the scope or schedule for hiring.
That changed Wednesday when news of nearly 50 job openings was posted for the Lehi spread. The postings at the Web site for the new entity Micron and Intel created for their flash memory project - IM Flash Technologies (http://www.imftech.com) - ranged from management, accounting and human resources jobs to computer maintenance and hardware and software engineering slots.
Micron spokesman Dan Francisco said that the postings, representing a potential 10 percent boost for the plant's work force of 500 memory testers, was just the beginning. More - the company will hint only that it could be in the hundreds - are expected through the course of this year.
"The number of employees who are hired . . . depends on market conditions and other variables," Francisco added. "That's the most appropriate answer I can give you at this point."
Lehi Mayor Howard Johnson says much higher figures of 2,500 to 3,000 were bandied about during a plant tour for local government officials about a month ago.
"They told us they were going into the construction phase to prepare [for NAND memory making], and that work was about to begin [on] getting their buildings ready," he said. "By the end of the year, or the first part of next year, they are supposed to be in production."
Johnson, recalling the 6,000 new jobs expected when the $700 million, 12-building development went up a decade ago on 2,100 acres along Traverse Ridge, said he had mixed feelings about the dream edging toward reality.
"I feel good for the neighbors and the new jobs that will come," he said. "But the biggest problem is that neither the state, county or city has done anything about the highway traffic."
A former state highway engineer, Johnson says nearby Interstate 15 turns into a parking lot during morning and evening rush hours. The problems will get only worse, he fears, in coming years as housing and population growth continue to crowd Utah County.
Transportation improvements have been made, says Utah County Commissioner Larry Ellertson, and more are on the way. He acknowledges that only a major upgrade of the I-15 corridor proposed for later this decade will make any dramatic difference in traffic flow.
"We are working on it with the planners and the Utah Department of Transportation. That is definitely a big issue for us on the horizon, and will continue to be as growth occurs," Ellertson said. "It does seem like we are always playing catch-up."
The long-awaited activation of the Lehi plant is more good news than bad, he insists. "This will be a benefit to the entire county in terms of employment opportunities."
bmims@sltrib.com
