Leahy Announces
New IBM-U.S. Partnership
To Produce Chips In Vermont

(TUESDAY, Nov. 11) -- Senator Patrick Leahy announces that the Department of Defense (DoD) and IBM have formed a new partnership under which IBM will provide defense agencies with a dedicated level of microchips and masks.

The terms of the agreement are confidential but the value of the contract could be as much as $60 million per year for each of the next 10 years.  The alliance will rely on components manufactured primarily at IBM’s highly efficient 8-inch wafer fabrication facilities in Vermont.

Leahy, a senior member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, worked to implement this agreement by including a provision in the FY04 Defense Appropriations Bill, which President Bush signed into law on Sept. 30.

“This partnership with IBM ensures our defense agencies a domestic source of the latest microelectronics, produced in Vermont, by Vermonters,” said Leahy.  “This is a tribute to the reputation for quality and for technological leadership that IBM and its Vermont workforce have painstakingly built over many years.  We Vermonters are proud to have this role in providing the best and the latest technology for our national security.”

“The IBM Burlington team is excited to be chosen to provide the Department of Defense with advanced chip technology produced at our Vermont plant, and we appreciate the strong support of Senator Leahy in making it possible,” said John DiToro, vice president, IBM Burlington manufacturing and senior location executive.  “This agreement underscores the industry-leading capability and skills at this facility and supports our strategy to expand our foundry manufacturing business.”

The partnership will give programs throughout DoD agencies access to IBM’’s cutting-edge microchip and mask production capabilities.  The initiative will be a source for DoD agencies of “on-shore” microelectronic components that are critical to maintaining U.S. technological superiority.

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