Silicon Border

Last updated

Silicon Border Holding Company, LLC is a commercial 40-square-kilometre (9,900-acre) development site designed to produce semi-conductors for consumers in North America. The site is located in Mexicali, Baja California, along the southwestern border of the United States of America and Mexico. [1] The site began manufacturing semiconductors between 2004-2005 with the intention of competing with the global market. Silicon Border provides Mexico with an infrastructure that enables high-tech companies anywhere in the world to relocate manufacturing operations to the country and exploit its competitive advantages such as geographical location, human capital, research, legal and tax benefits, intellectual property, international treaties, and logistics. This allows research to develop processes, design, fabrication and testing able to compete with Asian operations and costs. [2] [3] The infrastructure build-out, financed by ING Clarion, consists of potable water plant and distribution, fiber optic telephone and data cable, power substations, and waste treatment facilities. Silicon Border not only provides manufacturing space to companies creating "green" products, but does so in an environmentally conscious manner. [4]

California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger promoted cooperation with the project and has encouraged economic partnerships with Silicon Border in his radio addresses. [5] [6] In 2006, the California governor created the "California/Baja Silicon Border Work Group," run by deputy secretary of the California Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency, Yolanda Benson. State officials promised to hasten the roadways needed to link up with those being built for Silicon Border in Mexico. [7]

The area is supplied with water from the Colorado River and a major electrical sub-station supplied by three separate power plants. [2] Infrastructure improvements associated with the proposed project include a new highway (under construction) and an additional border crossing. [8] Silicon Border estimates that in ten years following the onset of development, the Silicon Border Science Park could generate 100,000 jobs both within Mexico and the U.S. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnold Schwarzenegger</span> Austrian and American actor and politician (born 1947)

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. He served as the 38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tijuana</span> City in Baja California, Mexico

Tijuana is the most populous city in the state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality and the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area. It has a close proximity to the Mexico–United States border, which is part of the San Diego–Tijuana metro area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">STMicroelectronics</span> Semiconductor device manufacturer

STMicroelectronics NV is a European multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the largest of such companies in Europe. It was founded in 1987 from the merger of two state-owned semiconductor corporations: Thomson Semiconducteurs of France and SGS Microelettronica of Italy. The company is incorporated in the Netherlands and headquartered in Plan-les-Ouates, Switzerland. Its shares are traded on Euronext Paris, the Borsa Italiana and the New York Stock Exchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baja California</span> State of Mexico

Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California. It has an area of 70,113 km2 (27,071 sq mi) and comprises the northern half of the Baja California peninsula, north of the 28th parallel, plus oceanic Guadalupe Island. The mainland portion of the state is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean; on the east by Sonora, the U.S. state of Arizona, and the Gulf of California; on the north by the U.S. state of California; and on the south by Baja California Sur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexicali</span> City in Baja California, Mexico

Mexicali is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, which is the seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area is home to 1,000,000 inhabitants on both sides of the Mexico–United States border. Mexicali is a regional economic and cultural hub for the border region of The Californias.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Westly</span> American businessman and politician

Steven Paul Westly is an American venture capitalist, entrepreneur, educator, and politician. He was the State Controller of California from 2003 to 2007 and was one of the top candidates in the Democratic primary for Governor of California in the 2006 election. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by California State Treasurer Phil Angelides by 4%, who later lost to Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the November 2006 elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fabian Núñez</span> American politician

Fabian Núñez is an American politician and labor union adviser. A member of the Democratic Party, he served three two-year terms as a member of the California State Assembly, leaving office in late 2008. During his last two terms, Núñez served as the 66th Speaker of the California State Assembly.

New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) was an American automobile manufacturing company in Fremont, California, jointly owned by General Motors and Toyota that opened in 1984 and closed in April 2010. The plant is located in the East Industrial area of Fremont next to the Mud Slough between Interstate 880 and Interstate 680, the plant's peak production year was 2006, when it manufactured 428,633 vehicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Angelides</span> American politician

Phillip Nicholas Angelides is an American politician who served as the California State Treasurer from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, Angelides was the party's nominee for Governor of California in 2006. Angelides later served as the chair of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which was charged with investigating the causes of the 2007–2008 financial crisis and presenting a report on their findings to the United States Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tecate</span> City in Baja California, Mexico

Tecate is a city in Tecate Municipality, Baja California. It is across the Mexico–US border from Tecate, California. As of 2019, the city had a population of 108,860 inhabitants, while the metropolitan area has a population of 132,406 inhabitants. Tecate is part of the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan region and the largest city between Tijuana and Mexicali. Tecate is a regional economic hub and popular tourist destination, known as home to the Tecate Port of Entry and to Tecate beer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Quintín, Baja California</span> City in Baja California, Mexico

San Quintín is a city in San Quintín Municipality, Baja California, located on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. The city had a population of 4777 in 2011. San Quintín is an important agricultural center for Baja California. The city is also an emerging tourist destination, known for its sand dunes and beaches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexicali Municipality</span> Municipality in the Mexican state of Baja California

Mexicali Municipality is a municipality in the Mexican state of Baja California. Its municipal seat is located in the city of Mexicali. As of 2020, the municipality had a total population of 1,049,792. The municipality has an area of 13,700 km2 (5,300 sq mi). This includes many smaller outlying communities as well as the city of Mexicali. Also, the islands of Baja California located in the Gulf of California are part of the municipality, among them the mudflat islands at the mouth of the Colorado River, Isla Ángel de la Guarda and the islands of San Lorenzo Marine Archipelago National Park. Mexicali is the northernmost municipality of Latin America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New River (Mexico–United States)</span> River that flows from Mexico into the United States

The New River flows north from near Cerro Prieto, through the city of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, into the United States through the city of Calexico, California, towards the Salton Sea. The river channel has existed since pre-historic times. The river as known today formed from a levee failure and massive flooding that filled the Salton Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger</span> Political career of Arnold Schwarzenegger

The governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger began in 2003, when Arnold Schwarzenegger ran for governor of California in a recall election. He was subsequently elected Governor when the previous governor Gray Davis was recalled and Schwarzenegger placed first among replacement candidates. Schwarzenegger served the remainder of Davis' incomplete term between 2003 and 2007. Schwarzenegger was then reelected to a second term in 2006, serving out this full term and leaving office in January 2011. Schwarzenegger was unable to run for a third term due to term limits imposed by the Constitution of California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Diego–Tijuana</span> Transborder agglomeration of the Californias

San Diego–Tijuana is an international transborder agglomeration, straddling the border of the adjacent North American coastal cities of San Diego, California, United States, and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The 2020 population of the region was 5,456,577, making it the largest bi-national conurbation shared between the United States and Mexico, and the second-largest shared between the US and another country. The conurbation consists of San Diego County, in the United States and the municipalities of Tijuana, Rosarito Beach (126,980), and Tecate (108,440) in Mexico. It is the third most populous region in the California–Baja California region, smaller only than the metropolitan areas of Greater Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Climate Initiative</span> Nonprofit-run emissions trading scheme in California and Quebec

Western Climate Initiative, Inc. (WCI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation which administers the shared emissions trading market between the American state of California and the Canadian province of Quebec as well as separately administering the individual emissions trading systems in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and American state of Washington. It also provides administrative, technical and infrastructure services to support the implementation of cap-and-trade programs in other North American jurisdictions. The organization was originally founded in February 2007 by the governors of five western states with the goal of developing a multi-sector, market-based program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; it was incorporated in its current form in 2011.

The Border Governors Conference is an annual, bi-national meeting between the governors of the four American states and six Mexican states that form the Mexico – United States border. It has been held since 1980.

SoloPower was a solar energy company developing and manufacturing Copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin-film flexible Photo-voltaic Solar Panels. The company used a special electroplating technology to utilize nearly 100% of its materials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faysal Sohail</span> American businessman

Faysal A. Sohail is an American venture capitalist and Managing Director at Presidio Partners in San Francisco. Sohail was a co-founder of Silicon Architects and on the founding team of Actel Corporation, two influential companies in the computer chip industry. Sohail serves as the Chairman of the Advisory Board of InoBat Auto, a European electric vehicle battery producer. In addition to that, he holds the position of Chairman of the Board at Our Next Energy (ONE), and serves as a board member for both Ascend Elements, and Wildcat Discovery Technologies, focusing on the sustainable energy sector.

The R20 – Regions of Climate Action is a non-profit environmental organization founded in September 2011, by former governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, with the support of the United Nations. R20 is a coalition of sub-national governments, private companies, international organizations, NGOs, and academic & financial institutions. Its mission is to accelerate sub-national infrastructure investments in the green economy to meaningfully contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The NGO operates at the sub-national level as R20 believes sub-national governments constitute a powerful force for change and are best positioned to take action & implement green projects.

References

  1. "Silicon Border". Silicon Border. July 14, 2004. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Pro Mexico". Negocios.promexico.gob.mx. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  3. "Posponen Proyecto Frontera del Silicio por falta de capital". www.lacronica.com (in Spanish). August 13, 2009. Archived from the original on March 5, 2010. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  4. "First Eco-Friendly, Green Science Park Located in North America Completes Phase One of Infrastructure Development. | Business News and Press Releases from". AllBusiness.com. March 31, 2009. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  5. Siborder.com
  6. "Governor's Radio Address: "Mexico: Good Neighbors, Strong Partners, Great Friends"" (PDF). Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. December 9, 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 30, 2006.
  7. "Obama taps Alan Bersin to oversee the border". San Diego Reader. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  8. Lindquist, Diane (July 14, 2005). "News > Mexico - Partners pushing 'silicon' center". Signonsandiego.com. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  9. "StackPath".