September 30, 2024
Congressman Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) visited our facility in Marina, California, while he was home meeting with constituents and working in the district office. We invited Congressman Panetta to tour our factory and meet some of his hard-working constituents, Indtec employees. Our people demonstrate daily that we still build things in California. We still do printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) and electronics manufacturing in the United States. We care greatly about our economic competitiveness, national security, and tax and trade policies that strengthen American workers in an ever-changing social, geopolitical, and technological landscape.
The 2022 CHIPS Act
Congressman Panetta asked our point of view on the “CHIPS Act,” which provides more than $50 billion in subsidies and tax credits for new semiconductor manufacturing facilities, research and development, and employee training in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, as of August 2024, the department had announced over $30 billion in proposed CHIPS private sector investments spanning 23 projects in 15 states. These projects include 16 new semiconductor manufacturing facilities and are expected to create over 115,000 manufacturing and construction jobs across the country. Commerce is on track to allocate remaining funds with CHIPS grantees by the end of 2024.” At Indtec, we believe that the CHIPS Act is a step in the right direction. We support “reshoring” and “near-shoring” vital manufacturing capabilities necessary to produce cutting edge, critical components, for U.S. industries. These capabilities will benefit in particular the automotive, telecommunications, and aerospace & defense industries. These industries are key contributors to U.S. global exports and our national defense.
Reshoring Semiconductors and Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA Production)
As the only U.S. military veteran-owned small business doing contract electronic manufacturing services (EMS) in the Monterey Bay area, Indtec is supportive of initiatives to bring more semiconductor production back to the U.S. We directly serve customers in the semiconductor equipment industry. We also serve industries that use semiconductors for various other technologies: from thermal flow meters for refineries and power plants, to airport and agricultural material handling equipment, to biomedical research equipment. Many of our industrial customers also maintain headquarters and operations in Congressman Panetta’s 19th congressional district. We understand the increasingly vital role of integrated circuits in today’s and tomorrow’s technologies. We cannot afford to outsource semiconductor supply chains to our adversaries, or to countries that are vulnerable to our adversaries, on the other side of the world.
Hiring and Retaining Skilled Employees – “Jobs”
Congressman Panetta was interested in how we are able to attract and retain skilled employees and offer competitive wages. Indtec company President, Matt Rowe, explained how we have expanded benefits to employees. We expanded company-matched health insurance, vision, and dental insurance for employees and their dependents. We increased paid company holidays and added 100% company-paid group life insurance. In January 2025 Indtec will transition from a Simple IRA employee retirement plan, to a company-matching 401(k) plan for all employees.
We have found that we can attract and retain excellent employees, with three times greater tenure (14 years) than the manufacturing national average ( 4.9 years ). We do this while providing competitive pay and better benefits than comparable-sized businesses, while also reducing employee stress at and away from work.
Congressman Panetta marveled at the speed and accuracy of our pick and place machines on the SMT assembly line, as well as the skill and attentiveness of our people, especially the hand-loaders, touch-up personnel, and final inspectors. It has been our honor to welcome Congressman Jimmy Panetta to our facility with his staff aide, Taylor Davis. For nearly all of our employees, it was their first time meeting their congressional representative in person. It was an opportunity for all of us to demonstrate how we are working to keep manufacturing for high tech industries at home in California and the U.S.
