Micron ponders jobs for idle factories

Micron Technology says it wants to put two newly idled factory buildings it owns - its flash-memory fab on the company's Boise campus and the MPC Computers plant in Nampa - back into service, possibly to make alternative energy products.

"We're always looking for ways to put those assets back to work," Mike Reynoldson, Micron's government affairs manager, told legislators Thursday.

Micron would like the state's help, though. The company, which has asked for - and received - tax breaks from the Legislature in the past, suggested that Idaho consider financial incentives for the renewable-energy industry.

"One of the areas we've looked into is manufacturing of renewable energy products," Reynoldson said. "Maybe there are states who have created incentives along those lines, and we would be interested in that."

The long-ailing MPC Computers went out of business Dec. 28. The computer maker was a division of Micron when it was founded in 1991. It was sold in 2001.

In October, Micron said it would cut about 1,500 of its roughly 9,000 remaining Boise jobs and close its Boise flash memory fab, reducing its Boise manufacturing operations to specialty dynamic random-access memory chips made on outdated equipment. The cuts followed the loss of roughly 1,100 jobs in 2007.

Reynoldson did not specify whether Micron was thinking of moving into renewable energy itself or selling or renting its buildings to other companies. Micron did not return a call for comment.

Reynoldson said Micron is concerned about government bailouts that have benefited its competitors in recent weeks. DRAM and flash makers around the world have suffered from reduced worldwide demand and falling prices for memory products. Micron has lost more than $1.9 billion in the past two years and expects steep losses again this quarter.

Taiwan has awarded $6.5 billion in loans to two DRAM makers, Germany has awarded a bailout loan to Qimonda, and Korean-based Hynix has received help from creditors, he said.

Reynoldson said there are ways Idaho could help Micron - still the state's largest private employer - as it struggles to survive the protracted chip-market downturn and the national recession.

He said Micron seeks relief from the personal property tax, which cuts directly into its bottom line. The state tax is levied on business equipment and furnishings.

He also said Micron favors extending to other large companies a property-tax break that was enacted to attract French power company Areva to eastern Idaho. The law capped the taxable value of a possible Areva uranium enrichment plant near Idaho Falls at $400 million if the company invests at least $1 billion within seven years.

"We'd like to see that revised so other companies could take advantage of it as well," Reynoldson said.

That move was foreseen by at least one legislator as the bill was being debated in the Senate during the last session.

"If I was Micron and saw this, I'd be back here next year to get my taxes reduced," Sen. David Langhorst, D-Boise, said at the time.

Lawmakers in 2005 capped the value of property on which Micron pays taxes at $800 million and passed a sales-tax break for research and development then estimated to save Micron $6 million a year. At the time, Micron employed about 11,000 workers in Boise, and lawmakers hoped the incentives would encourage the company to build a new fab with state-of-the-art manufacturing technology. The fab was not built and is not in Micron's plans today.

Brad Talbutt: 672-6737