Ground broken on major ASML expansion

In recent months the importance of computer chips and semiconductors has been clear. Every class of consumer good relies upon them in some way ”” they are responsible for providing cars, refrigerators, and almost every other electronic device with intelligence and internet connectivity. Semiconductors have been in short supply as demand across industries spikes and logistics chains run into shortfalls rooted in the Covid pandemic and exacerbated by global political tensions.

A groundbreaking ceremony for new facilities at the ASML plant in Wilton on Sept. 12 marked both an expansion for the company but also a step toward meeting the demand for semiconductors. The plant produces the photolithography equipment used to etch patterns into silicon wafers to produce microchips by manufacturers all over the world.

“ASML has been investing heavily into meeting semiconductor demands,”said Louis Lu, the head of the company’s Wilton site, which will undergo a $200 million expansion. 

Joost Ploegmakers, ASML’s vice president of engineering, explained the importance of the site.

“We’re within ASML the only site that delivers modules and parts to each and every ASML system that is produced,”he said. “So, our critical optomechanical modules go into every single machine that ASML ships, but it also means that with a growth of the semiconductor industry that we can produce all these critical products. That’s why we are expanding.”

The expansion will also require 1,000 new employees, bringing the entire site up to 2,500 people in various roles. Much of the expansion will focus on providing new amenities, meeting areas, and a plaza-style cafeteria. In addition, an experience center will provide interactive exhibits about STEM topics for visiting students from local schools. The center will also highlight the historical significance of the building, which is where optical lithography was originally developed by PerkinElmer in the 1960s.

According to Lu, the new jobs will represent a “full spectrum”of worker types, with some roles requiring doctoral degrees and others not requiring a college education. open to high school graduates.

The groundbreaking event drew the appearance of several elected officials. Lynne Vanderslice, first selectwoman of the Wilton board of selectmen, recognized the level of engagement in the local community that ASML employees typically have, as well as the economic benefits that the expansion will bring.

“We also recognize as a community that we have to find housing for your 1,000 new employees,”Vanderslice said. “We are looking to expand housing in Wilton both in terms of price point and the type of housing. You may have heard that we recently approved a couple of apartment projects that are fairly unique in Wilton.”

Vanderslice highlighted that despite Wilton historically having almost exclusively single-family housing the town has recently given the go-ahead to 18-, 35- and 174-unit projects not far from the site of the ASML facility.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal also praised the town for embracing the expansion but indicated that the development was of national importance.

“I’m just a country lawyer from Connecticut,”Blumenthal joked, “I don’t know about chips and semiconductors, but I’ve heard of this thing called ”˜Moore’s Law.’ These things get more powerful every two years, which shows me the pace, the demand, the challenge that our nation faces and ASML is helping us meet that challenge.”

“And we want to bring that industry back from other places, specifically back from China. To be very blunt, we want to eat China’s lunch when it comes to semiconductors,”Blumenthal added, noting that the Chips and Science Act, which recently passed Congress will provide $52 billion in support for the expansion of the domestic semiconductor industry.

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes hailed the expansion as an indicator of Connecticut’s continued appeal for high tech manufacturing.

“There are places in this country where you can do business more cheaply. You can pay lower wage rates elsewhere,”he said. “You can pay less for electricity elsewhere, but ASML understands that you can’t find better, more loyal, more innovative employees.”

Gov. Ned Lamont praised both the expansion and its potential impact on Wilton and neighboring Norwalk, as well as the efforts taken by his fellow governmental officials in supporting ASML’s work.

“I think that is what our role is,”Lamont said. “State government can come in as your partner and make sure you have the infrastructure needs met so that ASML can keep doubling down on Moore’s law, be the brains behind Moore’s law, and doing that right here in the great state of Connecticut.”