A small company in Medford, Oregon, is making a name for itself – expanding and creating jobs – as the U.S. ramps up to claim a bigger share of the global chip manufacturing industry. Rogue Valley Microdevices is the first woman-owned, minority-owned business to be awarded CHIPS Act funding, some $6.7 million.

It’s founder and CEO Jessica Gomez is determined to attract women and people of color to these new jobs, saying she is proof that a career in this industry is more accessible than many people may believe.

“It’s been hard for people, in general, to feel like they can be successful in this industry, (believing) it’s highly technical. Most people feel like they have to be some sort of math genius to be an engineer or an executive,” says Gomez.

“It’s not true. I’m neither of those things. I have a two-year degree from community college.”

Federal Investment is Supercharging the Industry

As the U.S. ramps up semiconductor manufacturing with help from $52 billion of federal investments, the nation is projected to triple its chip manufacturing capacity by 2032 and boost its share of global chip output. That’s something that hasn’t happened in decades.

The Semiconductor Industry Association expects the U.S. share of the world’s chip manufacturing capacity to grow to 14% from 10% in 2022, when the CHIPS and Science Act was signed into law. 

Big names in the semiconductor industry like Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation have been in the spotlight as they expand and create jobs. But the industry’s ecosystem is broad and spreading with smaller, yet notable players such as Rogue Valley Microdevices, creating jobs across the country.

Gomez and her husband, vice president and chief technical officer Patrick Kayatta, started Rogue Valley Microdevices in 2003. It’s a MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) foundry, taking designs from customers and turning them into functional chips. That includes sensors used for the aerospace, defense, and biomedical sectors. One example: sensors used in cancer diagnostic chips. 

The company is preparing to open a second facility in Palm Bay, Florida, that is expected to triple its manufacturing capacity. The facility will also break new ground by offering manufacturing services on 300mm wafers in the early part of 2025. 

Creating Jobs and Sending a Message of Accessibility

Seventy-five jobs are expected to be created over five years ranging from entry level to higher level engineering roles, with an average wage of $65,267, according to CareerSource Brevard County. That’s about $4,000 a year above the median wage for the entire country.

Gomez started her own career with a full-time entry-level job as a labor operator in a semiconductor clean room, earning minimum wage, and learning on the job. As someone who identifies as a Latina, Gomez stresses the need for a diverse workforce. 

“I think most people don’t realize that there are so many jobs available in this space, that you can have access to whether you’re a woman or Latina/Latino. No matter what culture or background you come from, we have room and we have a need for a diverse workforce,” she adds.

Building Skills on the Job

She leans into her own early experience to help build the workforce for her company. “We’re going to be doing the bulk of that training ourselves, much in the way that I learned. We find it’s the most effective way to bring people up-to-speed on the manufacturing side,” she adds.

Gomez explains that employees on all levels are paired with experienced technicians for on the job training between three and six months. 

She stresses, though, that training continues with an emphasis on career development. Knowing firsthand what it’s like to climb the ladder from an entry-level position to CEO as a mother of two daughters, she is aiming to provide daycare at the Palm Bay facility, along with after school programs for school age children of employees.

Helping Women Succeed 

Gomez believes a lack of reliable childcare is one of the things holding women back from fully leaning into these kinds of technical careers. ”We know we’re graduating women from technical degrees, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering. And  what’s happening is, you know, year four, five, they’re self-selecting out and they don’t come back. And if they do come back it’s ten years later and so you lose a lot of momentum, you lose that feel for the industry,” she says.

Gomez adds: “We don’t want to  put women in a position where they feel like they can’t have both a career in the semiconductor industry, especially on the manufacturing sid,e and have a family and have a really nice, full life.” 

The company, she says, is prioritizing hiring local talent and is working with organizations and schools in the area to train and recruit people. It’s proximity to academic institutions like Florida Institute of Technology, a private university in Melbourne, is among the reasons for choosing Palm Bay for the expansion.

Universities and Talent Pipelines Drive the Expansion

“We’re really happy that it worked out that they’re moving to Palm Bay, our backyard for Florida Tech. And so we’re very excited about  all kinds of collaborations with them and recruiting of our students and   maybe even research uh collaborations,” says John Harris, Ph.D., Dean of College and Engineering Science at the Florida Institute of Technology.

The school is experiencing  record enrollment with the freshman class of 2023 being the first to top 1,000 students since the school opened in 1958.

While the university is STEM-focused and offers engineering degrees for both undergraduates and postgraduates, it also has a workforce development center called the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Design in Palm Bay that offers certifications. 

Harris explains that the university works with companies to design courses and pursue opportunities for students.

“I’m hoping that students will get internships and we’ll convince some of the employees at Rogue Valley to come and give guest lectures and classes and maybe even teach some classes for us. So a lot of interactions with them. The MEMS field is very exciting, lots of applications,” adds Harris.

Also exciting, he notes, is that Jessica Gomez is at the helm of the company.

“It’s a woman owned business and we value diversity  a tremendous amount. So,  we love to see her succeeding with that. That’s wonderful and a good role model for our students and our faculty,” he adds. 

Why Palm Bay?

Rogue Microdevices is just the latest tech company putting down stakes in Florida’s Brevard County, in the backyard of both the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral and companies such as Blue Origin, SpaceX, Raytheon, and L3Harris Technologies.

It’s that kind of growth that is fueling optimism in Palm Bay, a city with 140,000 residents that’s seen a 17% jump in population since 2020.

“We are the best kept secret. We are the second-largest city in Central Florida and we are the largest city in Brevard County that no one really seems to know about,” says Nancy Peltonen, president and CEO  of the Greater Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce.

Palm Bay is on the southern tip of Brevard County also known as Florida’s Space Coast. Peltonen explains that after NASA’s shuttle programs ended in 2011, there was high unemployment and a push to diversify. Palm Bay, once known as a bedroom community, now has its own tech corridor, she explains.

Rogue Valley Microdevices is a feather in its cap. 

“I think first and foremost, it’s a mind shift. It’s the fact that Palm Bay is seen as an attractive place to start a business,” says Peltonen. She adds: “It puts Palm Bay on the map.”