BOISE — Facility management company ABM Industries commemorated the launch of a Boise training center on Tuesday, representing an expansion of its effort to directly train newcomers to the semiconductor industry and address a growing workforce demand.
ABM aims for the facility, located in south Boise at 521 W. McGregor Drive, to get newcomers to the industry ready to work in a semiconductor fabrication plant environment, whether that be at Micron or any number of industry leaders in Idaho and beyond. At launch, the center will have the capacity to accommodate 500 participants annually.
Representatives for ABM said Tuesday the certification classes were slated to accommodate 10 students per weekly class. Darrell McDaniel, an ABM executive, said Boise’s training center will represent an expansion upon its similar operation in Austin, Texas, that has already seen 300 students walk away with certifications.
McDaniel said the need for Boise’s facility stems from feedback from senior engineers who have responsibility for ensuring new workers are up to speed. Due to the degree of turnover, senior employees can become burdened with training.
To address this, Boise training center is aiming to relieve this burden and equip new hires at semiconductor companies with the certifications and training needed to work in a semiconductor fabrication plant — known as a fab.
“What we built here is the fundamental class for everyone,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel said trainees will begin in a virtual reality environment to get an understanding of the fab environment. Students also have access to a mock clean room and are required to wear smocks, an environment that gives them a taste of what is required to operate in the controlled environment with strict controls for particulates, temperature and humidity.
The course also teaches basics around hand tools, how to understand resistance and voltage with electrical boards and how to use pneumatics for precise wafer construction. All this comes in addition to smaller certifications, some of which can be completed in a matter of hours, and the reinforcement of foundational safety protocols.
Ashley Miller, ABM’s director of technical training, said semiconductor companies are consistently hiring entry-level roles through companies like ABM. In the past, Miller said many of the employees on fab sites have historically been contractors, which allowed ABM to have a role in recruitment and management. As these companies have begun hiring fab workers directly, however, ABM has worked to implement training to differentiate from programs that aren’t fostering a direct workforce pipeline.
Also distinguishing the program is the associated time commitment, with the training taking place over a matter of four days.
Ed Marcil, president of manufacturing and distribution at ABM, said a key advantage of the program is the time commitment, with completion taking place over the course of a week. “People can take one week out of their life and actually change not just the trajectory of their career,” Marcil said, “but the trajectory for their family.”
“It is very exciting to see,” Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, who was one of several legislators in attendance for the launch event, said. “And I’m very happy for my constituents and the young people coming up in my district that they’re going to have places like this to get a serious boost in their lifetime earnings.”
The training center arrives as the industry continues to expand in Boise. Micron is set to bring a second, multibillion-dollar fab to Boise as part of a broad domestic expansion announced last year. Boise State University also announced this summer it would serve as the lead institution in a regional education program aimed at bolstering the semiconductor workforce.
The slate of developments in Boise arrives as the national semiconductor workforce shortfall is projected to grow to 150,000 workers by 2030, according to a study from McKinsey, a consultancy firm.
“Idaho is a national leader in advanced semiconductor manufacturing, and investments like ABM’s Technical Training Center ensure we are preparing Idahoans to fill the good-paying jobs that industry is creating,” Gov. Brad Little said in a written statement. “By bringing hands-on training and industry-recognized credentials to Boise, ABM is helping build the skilled workforce we need to support innovation, strengthen our economy, and keep Idaho at the forefront of America’s semiconductor future.”