Semiconductor Industry Association Moving Headquarters to D.C.

The Semiconductor Industry Association is moving its headquarters to Washington, D.C. Currently based in San Jose, Calif., the trade association backs a $120 billion dollar domestic industry that is the second largest exporter in the United States, and it wants to be heard by policymakers. The organization plans to complete its move by August.

By Avery Fellow | February 12, 2010

The Semiconductor Industry Association, the trade organization behind the $120 billion dollar U.S. semiconductor industry, announced that it is moving its headquarters from San Jose, California to Washington, D.C. later this year.

Since its founding in 1977, the industry has sent senior executives from semiconductor companies to Washington a few times a year to talk to policy makers and testify before Congress, but now there are a host of policy issues that directly impact the industry. The SIA wants a larger, ongoing presence in Washington to take part in the debates over tax reform, cap and trade and new environmental regulations.

"As the breadth of issues that affects our industry continues to expand, it’s just not practical to rely on having the industry CEOs go down there and represent the industry," said John Greenagel, spokesman for the SIA.

"There is a lot about the industry that policy makers need to know," Greenagel said. "Semiconductors, to the surprise of many, are the second leading U.S. export product."

While other countries are eagerly offering incentives to attract manufacturing facilities, which cost $3 billion to start up, the United States is considering increasing taxes on offshore earnings of foreign subsidiaries. It is crucial that the United States maintains a critical mass of research and development and manufacturing facilities here if it wants to retain its leadership in technology, Greenagel says.

"Technology leadership is critical to all the major problems facing the U.S. economy—economic growth, productivity of workers, healthcare improvements, education, energy issues, and national security," Greenagel said.

So when long-time SIA president George Scalise announced his plan to retire by the end of this year, the same time the lease is up on the San Jose headquarters, the association decided to move.

"There are so many issues that directly affect the semiconductor industry that are determined in Washington," Greenagel said.

The association already has two full-time lobbyists working in Washington, but they want to bring the bulk of the staff to the nation’s capital.

"Our number one concern has been keeping the U.S. semiconductor industry as the leader of technology in the world," Greenagel said.

U.S. companies control slightly more than 50 percent of the worldwide market for semiconductors, but only 20 percent of the market share is in the United States. Eighty percent of the demand comes from overseas, especially from emerging markets in China and India.

SIA Chairman John Daane said in a statement, "After much study, we concluded that to have a greater and more effective voice, we must have a greater presence in Washington."

Greenagel said, "We can compete with the rest of the world when policy makers are enlightened and recognize the strategic importance of the industry, and the economic benefit, and do things to make it so that companies are not disadvantaged by building manufacturing and research and development facilities in the United States."

The SIA is currently looking for space to locate the headquarters. They are taking input from SIA member companies in the Washington area.

Read More News