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Austin chip company announces layoff plans [Austin American-Statesman](Austin American-Statesman (TX) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 20--SVTC Technologies, which operates a semiconductor manufacturing and research plant in Austin, has notified the State of Texas that it plans to permanently lay off 105 workers tied to a "full or partial closing" of its operations here. The letter to the state said the layoffs, which would affect most of the workers at the plant, could start as soon as Nov. 17. SVTC, which is based in San Jose, Calif., had no comment on the letter it sent to state. The company is believed to have sent a similar letter to the State of California regarding some or all of its workers in that state. Although the terms of SVTC Technologies' letter about layoffs sound ominous, there might be a silver lining. A source in the Austin economic development community said SVTC officials have been in discussions with City of Austin and state officials about the possibility of consolidating its manufacturing operations in Austin. SVTC operates pilot production wafer manufacturing facilities both in Austin and San Jose for clients that want to make new semiconductor devices or nanotechnology products. The company runs the chip fabrication plant at 2706 Montopolis Drive that was formerly owned by the Sematech research consortium. Sematech agreed to sell the fab to SVTC in 2007 for an undisclosed price. Sematech has since moved most of its Austin headquarters operations to Albany, N.Y. The Sematech-SVTC campus in Southeast Austin is owned by the University of Texas. Contact Kirk Ladendorf at 445-3622 ___ (c)2012 Austin American-Statesman, Texas Visit Austin American-Statesman, Texas at www.statesman.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |