AMIS makes plans to hire 20 people – CEO speaks to Pocatello, ID Rotary Club

AMI Semiconductor CEO and President Christine King told area leaders Thursday the company is hiring 20 people now and similar announcements could soon follow.

By Sean Ellis – Journal Writer

That tally doesn’t count the 10 to 12 key engineering and management positions the company has added in recent months.

King said the increase in employment is a result of AMIS’ new aggressive strategy to position itself for growth now instead of waiting for the depressed semiconductor industry to rebound.

"Hopefully, things will continue to go well for us and we’ll add another 20," King told about 100 Pocatello Rotary Club members during their weekly meeting at the Ramada Inn.

"I think they’re our greatest asset right now in Pocatello," said Bannock Development Corp. Executive Director Ray Burstedt.

AMIS, Pocatello’s largest private employer, has about 1,100 employees at the company’s facility at 2300 Buckskin Road. Worldwide, the business employs 2,500.

King said whether the company will add even more positions depends if the chipmaker can continue a string of successes that began last year: It acquired Alcatel Microelectronics of Belgium, increasing the company’s annual sales by more than $100 million to more than $400 million and gaining significant inroads into European markets; it inked several important deals, and has added some world-class talent, including North America’s design engineer of the year in 2002.

King, who took over AMIS’ top job 18 months ago, said the company recently won a design contract over three companies with annual revenues of more than $2 billion each.

King said three main factors can be credited for the company’s growth:

€ The acquisition of Alcatel. Combining the best practices from Alcatel and from the Pocatello facility has enabled AMIS to save about $40 million per year, she said.

She said the Pocatello workforce tended to work very fast, but not in an orderly, disciplined manner. The Belgian workers, on the other hand, did things in a very disciplined mode but were "slow as molasses."

"So what we’ve . . . said is, ‘When it comes to speed, we’re doing it the American way. When it comes to process and discipline, we’re going to invoke a lot of the European methods’," King said.

€ AMIS refocused its strategy. When she came to AMIS, the talent was there, but the company didn’t have a real direction, she said.

So officials took the things the company is best at – engineering, manufacturing efficiency, sensing temperature, pressure and acceleration, and wireless communications – and decided to attack the three markets that most use that type of technology: the automotive, medical and industrial sectors.

€ AMIS completed a publicly traded bond Jan. 28 and raised $200 million of investment funding. Since then, the bond’s value has increased 5.5 percent.

King said she doesn’t see growth in the semiconductor industry, but the company isn’t planning on it for its success.

"We’ve said there is no market growth and we’re not going to count on it. We’re going to make our success without that growth."

She said as the company continues to grow, she believes hi-tech companies interested in stealing AMIS employees will also locate here.

"We’re going to really be on the map and people are going to want to steal our talent," she said.

Auto dealer Park Price, who is involved in efforts to recruit more businesses to the Gate City, said that potential is exciting for the area’s economy.

"People will come because this is the place to get the talent," Price said.

"I am completely committed to the community, AMIS is completely committed to the community and I think we’re going to really do great things," King said. "You’re going to be really proud of us."

Sean Ellis covers local government and business for the Journal. He can be reached at 239-6001 or [email protected].

http://www.journalnet.com/articles/2003/04/04/news/local/news01.txt