Taking over Ericsson, lock, stock and barrel, should have made
Infineon Technologies a household name in Morgan Hill, but it
didn
’t. Morgan Hill hardly noticed, but Congressman Mike Honda, Rep.
D-San Jose, did.
Taking over Ericsson, lock, stock and barrel, should have made Infineon Technologies a household name in Morgan Hill, but it didn’t. Morgan Hill hardly noticed, but Congressman Mike Honda, Rep. D-San Jose, did.
To find out how the company fits into the Silicon Valley economy of today and tomorrow, Honda toured the factory at 18275 Serene Drive in the Morgan Hill Business Park last Thursday. During the course of two hours, he looked over shoulders, peered through microscopes and talked to workers and company managers, all the while dressed in the “attractive” paper shower cap and white coat of silicon chip manufacturing.
Honda said he noticed the care employees take in producing the flaw-free silicon wafers that make up the company’s RF power transistors.
“I’m impressed with your quality control,” Honda said. “Customers will have confidence that your stuff won’t break.”
The tour was led by Vice president and general manager packaging center Tom Moller, Bob LeFort and Joerg Borchert, president and vice-president of Infineon Technologies North America, respectively.
Honda asked Moller about the fancy new technologies on display.
“Our new amps will blast the signal through the wall,” Moller said, explaining that the cheaper the cell phone, the more powerful signal it needs.
Infineon, based in Munich, Germany (with North American headquarters in San Jose) did indeed buy out the ninth largest private employer in the city in September 2002. The manufacturing plant has rolled along ever since, hardly making a dent in local news but providing 140 decent jobs for South Valley residents and contributing to cellular capabilities.
Worldwide, Infineon is the sixth-largest semiconductor manufacturer with 2003 North American sales reaching $1.62 billion and 2,800 U.S. employees.
The Morgan Hill Infineon employs 90 production workers, 28 design engineers and 21 in the marketing and support divisions, stemming from an original investment of $50 million. Those employees design and manufacture RF power transistors for all cellular standards plus broadcast television and DAB markets.
During a chat with employees, billed as a “Town Hall Meeting” Honda said he saw “all kinds of faces.
“That’s cool,” he said, calling out “good morning” in English, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese.
Employees told Honda they came from India, Vietnam, Korea and China, plus several Latin American countries – and plenty from California too. Eight said they were local natives.
And, as always lately, the economy was a topic of interest.
“The economy is flat in the valley now, but it will turn around,” Honda said. “I see a cautious growth for Silicon Valley.”
After the Town Hall meeting, Honda and the Infineon management returned to the board room to continue the conversation.
Councilwoman Hedy Chang, a long-time friend of the Honda family, had joined visitors to see Infineon for herself and to discuss Morgan Hill issues with the Congressman.
Even though he does not represent Morgan Hill directly, he said he works with Richard Pombo and Zoe Lofgren, the trio representing the area, to solve issues with transportation and flooding.
On transportation – the question of bringing BART to San Jose – Honda was sympathetic but proud of local contributions.
“In most of the country, the ratio of transportation funds is 20 percent local and 80 percent federal,” he said. “In this valley it’s reversed – 70 percent local and 30 percent federal so we can truly say we dug into our pockets first.”
About the recent export of technical and manufacturing jobs, LeFort was clear that the U.S. had a useful strength in the face of adversity.
“The U.S. has the flexibility to react quickly to downturns – compared to Germany,” LeFort said. “In tough times we react to save the business.” He expects his business to take an upturn this year and bring more jobs to the area.
