Ohio senators impressed with Intel after Israel trip

NEWARK − State Sen. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark, visited Intel Corporation facilities in Israel on an Ohio Senate delegation with Ohio Jewish communities, and left the Middle East with a greater appreciation of both Intel and Israel.

Hottinger, scheduled to return to Ohio on Sunday after the week-long visit to Israel, toured Intel facilities there on Thursday. Seven other Ohio senators joined Hottinger on the Ohio Senate-Israeli trade mission.

“I felt real good about Intel before my visit here just and it just reinforced that it’s going to be great for Licking County and Ohio," Hottinger said Thursday from Jerusalem.

“The purpose was for us to come see the opportunities here and to open up a dialogue on partnerships. Ohio is a big partner with Israel. We have a lot of Ohio companies with a presence in Israel.”

The flight into Israel was temporarily delayed after missiles were fired into the country from the Gaza Strip. Reuters reported Palestinian militants in Gaza fired dozens of rockets into Israel in response to Israeli airstrikes which killed at least 10 people, including a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement.

Despite the missiles fired into Israel on the day of the delegation's departure from Ohio, Hottinger said he felt safe because the country's Iron Dome anti-missile system has a 97.7% accuracy of shooting down incoming missiles. There were a couple injuries but no deaths in Israel.

“I feel incredibly safe here,” Hottinger said. “They live in a kind of hostile neighborhood.”

Within Israel, however, the diversity and acceptance of others is remarkable, he said.

“A lot of communities here are mixed communities of Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews,” Hottinger said. “They get along for the most part. Almost all want peace. It’s just some of the extremist groups (who don’t).”

Israel, ranked among the top 10 most technologically advanced countries, has four Intel sites, including the company’s most advanced manufacturing facility in the city of Kiryat Gat. The company first came to Israel in 1974.

In Jerusalem, where Hottinger visited, is Intel’s global development center of autonomous cars, and development center for communication and cyber security solutions.

The company’s development center of hardware and software for processors and artificial intelligence is located in Haifa. The development center for communication and artificial intelligence solutions is located in Petah Tikvah.

“Intel was really the first of the tech companies to come here, and now that’s what Israel is known for," Hottinger said. "Intel is not noticed because there’s so many companies here.”

Since 1974, Intel has grown from five employees to 12,000 in Israel. There are 7,000 in development and 5,000 in manufacturing.

Not only does Intel attract suppliers and other companies, it also attracts housing, Hottinger said.

“Their first location in Israel, they built houses and people wanted to be right across from their fabs, and it was the same thing in Arizona,” Hottinger said. “Wherever there is Intel, they create an economy around it.”

Hottinger said there will be 30 to 40 Intel suppliers coming to Ohio, and there are already conversations with 15 of them to come to central Ohio.

Intel begins construction this year on the largest commercial development in Ohio history, a $20 billion computer chip manufacturing operation which could grow to a $100 billion investment, just south of Johnstown, on Jersey Township land annexed into New Albany.

The company expects production to start in 2025 and employment to reach 3,000, with an average wage of $135,000. The project is also expected to create 7,000 construction jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs.

Hottinger said Intel is a good neighbor, providing scholarships and partnering with schools.

“Being that great corporate citizen, they do this across the world," Hottinger said. "There’s always going to be naysayers and skeptics, but they’re phenomenally great corporate neighbors.”

kmallett@newarkadvocate.com

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Twitter: @kmallett1958

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Ohio senators impressed with Intel after Israel trip