Hillsboro's Silicon Forest supply chain got a major boost Wednesday, Aug. 26, when Lam Research started construction on a $620 million research and development lab at its Tualatin campus. The facility is the first phase of a $1.5 billion commitment to Washington County that will add roughly 400 jobs to a semiconductor sector still recovering from Intel layoffs in Hillsboro.
The 120,000-square-foot cleanroom facility will boost Lam's existing Tualatin lab space by more than 50% and is projected to open in 2028, according to a company announcement. Lam designs and builds the tools Intel, Micron and other chipmakers use to etch and deposit materials on silicon wafers. The company employs about 3,000 people at its Tualatin campus and maintains a sales office in Hillsboro.
CEO Tim Archer framed the expansion around surging demand for AI hardware, saying at the groundbreaking that the pace of innovation "has changed everything." New AI models arrive monthly, each requiring more computational power.
"… It's the type of equipment that we manufacture and develop right here in Oregon that helps make all of that possible," Archer said.
The ceremony drew U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read, Washington County Board Chair Kathryn Harrington, Tualatin City Council President Valerie Pratt and senior leaders from Intel and Micron, OPB reported.
The lab is the first building in a larger campus expansion Lam calls "TuX," expected to total 210,000 square feet of offices, labs and industrial space. A third-party economic study by Optimal Solutions Group projected the jobs would pay an average of $173,000 a year, roughly triple Oregon's average wage.
Tax deal
The project is backed by a Strategic Investment Program agreement that Washington County commissioners approved Aug. 4 and the Tualatin City Council approved Aug. 10. Under the deal, Lam will pay an estimated $111 million in property taxes and fees over 15 years in exchange for a partial tax abatement on the new buildings. The agreement allows up to $1.7 billion in total investment through 2041. The state also contributed $22 million.
When the county announced the deal on Aug. 11, Harrington said the investment "strengthens Washington County's leadership in Oregon's semiconductor ecosystem by supporting careers that fuel local prosperity." She added that the new tax revenue would help fund schools and other public services.
The agreement still requires final approval from the Oregon Business Development Commission; no vote date has been scheduled.
Silicon Forest context
The groundbreaking arrives as Oregon's manufacturing sector struggles. The state has lost nearly 8,500 manufacturing jobs over the past year, according to state employment data reported by OPB, and Intel laid off nearly 2,500 workers from its Hillsboro campus in the summer of 2025. Oregon manufacturing employment is at its lowest point in 15 years.
Lam, by contrast, reported $23.2 billion in annual sales over the past year, up 26%, with profits of $7.3 billion. The company said its annual economic contribution in Oregon is projected to exceed $1.8 billion once the expansion is complete, supporting more than 11,000 jobs statewide.
This is Washington County's seventh SIP agreement. Previous deals dating to 1993 have attracted more than $50 billion in investment and created or retained over 19,000 local jobs.
Construction is expected to take about three years, with the new lab targeted to open in 2028.
