GlobalFoundries celebrates one year in Essex Junction
ESSEX JUNCTION - GlobalFoundries' senior vice president of global sales and business development couldn't resist a weather metaphor Thursday at the semiconductor company's first-year celebration of taking over the former IBM chip plant here.
At last year's event to celebrate the deal in which GlobalFoundries acquired IBM's semiconductor business, there was a torrential downpour, and the celebration was confined to a tent. This year, everything was sunshine, and tables and people filled a large courtyard in the fab's main building.
"We feel good one year in," Mike Cadigan said. "There's lots of smiles out there."
Cadigan formerly ran IBM's microelectronics division and came to GlobalFoundries with the acquisition, along with Janette Bombardier, long-time senior location executive in Essex Junction for IBM. Cadigan acknowledged in an interview Thursday that GlobalFoundries takes a much different approach to transparency than IBM did.
A fact sheet produced for the one-year anniversary plainly states that GlobalFoundries employs 2,800 people in Essex Junction, at a site the company calls Fab 9. Compare that with IBM, which stopped providing employee counts in Essex Junction as soon as the manufacturer started eliminating workers on a regular basis, dropping from a high of about 8,000 employees at the fab's peak.
"The IBM approach was very different: 'Tell them what they need to know,'" Cadigan said. "We were quite guarded. We have a different view in (this) company. We value our relationship with the community and the state."
The semiconductor business remains competitive, Cadigan said. But he added, "God knows what will happen as a result of Brexit; there's a lot of concern about that." But GlobalFoundries intends to share its analysis of the impact of an event such as the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union, which has roiled financial markets around the world.
"In the IBM world, that's not something we typically did," Cadigan said.
GlobalFoundries scales up in Vt.; gets named in lawsuit
The change in culture also has lifted spirits among workers and management in Essex Junction, Cadigan said. He referenced the $72 million investment that GlobalFoundries made in the fab soon after acquiring the facility last year, and compared that investment with IBM's approach.
"IBM was continually cranking down the level of investment," Cadigan said. "'Guys, we like what you do, but we're not sure we like it that much. We'll give you what we can afford to give you.'"
As part of the transaction last year, IBM paid GlobalFoundries $1.5 billion. The "sale" was quickly derided as IBM's paying to get rid of a money-losing business. There was a "little bit of truth to that," Cadigan said, but he explained that IBM wanted GlobalFoundries to continue supplying chips for IBM's high-end computer systems for a decade, and was willing to pay for it. He said the relationship has worked out well.
"We feel good about what we have here. We feel good about the skill of the people and the innovation coming from the team here," Cadigan said. "We also feel good about the future. I would say everything is pointed in the right direction as we look ahead as a company."
This story was first published on July 1, 2016. Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosio@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanDambrosioVT.
LIKE THE FREE PRESS ON FACEBOOK
SIGN UP FOR BREAKING NEWS BFP ALERTS
Do you have a breaking news tip? Call us at 802-660-6500 or send us a post on Facebook or Twitter using #BFPTips.