Anyone who visits Vermont is struck by the state's natural beauty and outstanding quality of life. That quality of life recently brought one of the world's top semiconductor companies to the state.

Infineon, the ninth largest semiconductor company in the world, officially opened its 19,000 square foot facility in Williston in May. By the end of 2002, the Williston research and development facility is expected to house up to 60 engineers and support staff, all concentrating on the development of computer memory chips.

Infineon is a leading supplier of these DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) chips, used in everything from laptop computers to the communications servers and networking equipment that power the Internet.

The Williston center is one of eight Infineon development facilities in the United States, and one of 29 that the company has established around the world. All together, about one-sixth of Infineon's employees, or more than 5,100 people, are engaged in R&D activity within Infineon, or in partnership with other industry players.

Relationship with IBM spurred Infineon expansion

Infineon, which is headquartered in Munich, Germany, gained its knowledge of Vermont's living and work benefits through 10 years of working with IBM in the Burlington area.

IBM now employs 8,000 people at its research and development facility in Essex Junction.

"Our people like it here and have developed ties to the community," says Frank Gelsdorf, manager of the Williston Center for Infineon. "Infineon is committed to investing in research, and we are committed to the idea of being a good citizen in the communities where we operate. We are happy about expanding our operations in the region."

Infineon was formerly known as Siemens Semiconductors, an operating division of German company Siemens AG. The company became Infineon Technologies AG in 1999.

Karen Thuermer