20 February 2023
BURLINGTON, Kan. (KSNW) — Coffey County will soon be home to a new $1.9 billion dollar computer chip manufacturing facility.
Governor Laura Kelly has announced that EMP Shield plans to build a computer chip manufacturing facility in Burlington. The governor says that the facility will create more than 1,200 jobs averaging $66,000 annually.
EMP Shield manufactures devices that protect other electronic devices from destructive magnetic pulses. The company will build its facility on 300 acres in a secure campus located at Silicon Prairie Industrial Park.
They will be joined by six out-of-state suppliers, which is expected to create an additional 1,000 jobs in Coffey County. Once completed, the 235,000 square feet facility is expected to manufacture thousands of chips per week.
“Bringing economic prosperity to every corner of the state – particularly rural Kansas – has been a priority since my very first day in office,” said Gov. Kelly in a news release. “We achieve that with this project, creating thousands of high-paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree and proving that every Kansas community is ripe for investment and growth.”
EMP Shield will apply for CHIPS Act funding to complete the project. The bipartisan legislation called for every aspect of computer chip production to be brought back to the United States – specifically into rural areas of the Midwest, along with stipulations including private-public partnerships as well as the involvement of higher education institutions.
EMP Shield is working with area partners such as Coffey County; Flint Hills Technical College; Allen County Community College; Pittsburg State University; the University of Kansas; Heartland Black Chamber of Commerce; Wichita Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; and Unified School Districts 243, 244 and 245.
For more about EMP Shield, click here.