Irvine-based Menlo Microsystems Inc., the maker of tiny electronic switches designed for nearly everything from smartphones to defense systems and medical equipment, has settled on New York for its first U.S. manufacturing plant.
After heavy lobbying by U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer and other New York officials, Menlo Micro said last week it is setting up its production facility near Cornell University in upstate New York.
“The state’s been very proactive with us, working with us on subsidies, workforce development, those kinds of things,” CEO Russ Garcia told the Business Journal.
Menlo Micro plans to invest $50 million in the facility—dubbed the “Ideal Fab”—in the Village of Lansing over the next three years, creating over 100 high-tech jobs there over the next five years.
New hires will start coming on board in Lansing starting this month.
“We’ll still keep our headquarters here in Southern California,” Garcia said of its offices at 49 Discovery in Irvine (see story, this page).
The company is committing to a multiyear growth strategy through diverse funding sources, such as government funds, to grow the Lansing site and further expand its U.S.-based manufacturing.
“As part of Menlo Micro’s strategy, the company’s future domestic expansion would see an additional investment upward of $150 million and the phasing in of an additional 100-plus jobs, commensurate with growth,” the company said.
$150M Series C
Menlo Micro’s product, the Ideal Switch, is said to be 99% smaller, lighter, and more efficient than conventional switches and electromagnetic relays, helping to power all types of electrical products.
Other uses for the switch include consumer electronics and aerospace industries.
The company’s product is expected to make smartphone batteries last longer, medical instruments more precise, and make 5G networks run better, among other applications.
Menlo Micro in 2022 received $150 million in a Series C funding round, to expand the company’s domestic manufacturing and supply chain. That round brought cumulative funding to about $238 million.
Menlo Micro has begun retrofitting the building in Lansing, with U.S.-based manufacturing estimated to begin next year.
The manufacturing site is expected to produce thousands of wafers per month and create high-quality, skilled, and in-demand jobs over the coming years as the company continues to invest in American manufacturing.
Menlo Micro says it plans to continue expanding in New York, with additional announcements planned in the coming months.
China Concerns
The new domestic site will provide additional capacity in the U.S., which more politicians are calling for after fears of a trade war with semiconductor powerhouse China and bottlenecks that have slowed industries like car manufacturers.
“We’re still working with the federal government on different potential subsidies,” according to Garcia.
The Menlo Micro announcement of the New York plant comes amid warnings from Chapman University President-Emeritus Jim Doti and his team that Orange County is lagging in creating high-paying “advanced jobs.”
“Of greater concern than the short-run effects of recessionary forces is the long-run impact of Orange County’s deteriorating position in luring new advanced worker establishments,” Doti and his team said in their economic forecast update last month.
General Electric
Menlo Micro was spun out of General Electric’s Global Research Center to commercialize the Ideal Switch.
The private company doesn’t share revenue figures, but said its “customer pipeline continues to grow, and we expect to be in double- digit millions as we transition from this year to next.”
Menlo Micro currently has about 70 employees, including about 55 in Irvine. That does not count employees who will start coming on board at the Lansing production site this month.
Garcia said the products of companies such as his—integrated circuits and micro electromechanical systems— are built with a semiconductor manufacturing process and therefore are often considered semiconductor companies.
Menlo Microsystems Keeping Irvine HQ ‘Forever’
Menlo Microsystems Inc. CEO Russ Garcia told the Business Journal he will keep company headquarters in Irvine “forever” despite new plans to develop a large-scale manufacturing facility in upstate New York.
“I’m not looking to move the headquarters,” he told the Business Journal on July 10.
The headquarters at 49 Discovery houses operations for executives, design team and sales and marketing. Garcia is based in Irvine and lives in Orange.
“It will continue to grow,” according to the CEO.
New York officials robustly lobbied for the new plant near Cornell University, including up to $6.5 million in jobs-based tax credits, while the company also found a building that it is refurbishing to its needs.
Asked whether California officials had also lobbied Menlo Micro to have the plant in the Golden State, Garcia had a one-word answer: “No.”
