Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Kris Maher, The Wall Street Journal 6 min Read 25 Sept 2025, 07:31 AM IST Intel said the New Albany project is an important part of its plan to expand the leading manufacturing on US land. (Reuters) Summary New Albany, Ohio, was supposed to be the site of an advanced semiconductor factory for Intel, but progress is slow. The wheat field where Tiffany Hollis as a girl played a tag was ushered in four years ago as the website that would turn the Rust Belt into the silicon heartland, once Intel built the most advanced semiconductor factory there. The largest economic development project in the history of Ohio is on an uncertain land, as the chipmaker struggles to keep up with competitors. Some residents question whether the project will be completed, or Intel will own it when it is. “We have a gaping hole. What’s going to be? ‘ says Tiffany Hollis, president of the Johnstown City Council. Most days, hundreds of trucks grind past Johnstown’s once-quiet square and his historic opera house. Hollis compares the prolonged construction with a home in a house while he does not have a kitchen and bath with no clear ending. “It’s uncomfortable, everyone is irritated and there is no good plan.” Tiffany Hollis, president of the city council in Johnstown, Ohio, says revenue at her dining room is off and construction traffic to and from the Intel site is harmful roads. Intel said the New Albany project is an important part of its plan to expand leading manufacturing on US land. “Based on the progress we made in Ohio, we still have flexibility to adjust timelines based on the client’s question,” a spokesman said. In 2022 Intel promised it would spend $ 20 billion, then $ 28 billion, to build two semiconductor factories in New Albany, a wealthy community and growing data center center outside Columbus. Intel promised 7,000 construction work after an opening of 2025 and 3,000 employees and said the investment could amount to $ 100 billion. Last year Intel replaced his CEO and said that he would cut as much as 30% of his workforce and delayed the Ohio project a second time. The first factory will only open in 2030. In July, new CEO Lip-Bu Tan said Intel would further delay the rate of construction in Ohio to ensure that expenses were in line with the market demand. Last month, President Trump told Tan to resign because of the alleged ties with China, a claim that Trump later kept away after the two met. The administration then took a 10% stake in the business. Nvidia said last week that it would invest $ 5 billion in Intel and collectively develop data centers and personal products. The investment does not appear to directly affect the Ohio project. Intel’s project sits in New Albany, Ohio, a data center center. About 1,000 construction workers are on the spot today. Some Intel employees, including his community link, have recently left the company, which worries the residents further. Ohio provided $ 2 billion to financial incentives for the project and built roads and 16 miles of storm pipes, including infrastructure. The Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno asked that a possible investigation into fraud to Intel said he was afraid that the site of 1,000 hectares could become a ‘white elephant’. Intel declined to comment on Moreno’s statement. The company previously said it is grateful for the confidence that Trump and his administration has placed in the company. Silicon dreams the area outside of Columbus, with a wide open ground, access to power, water and other infrastructure, has attracted other major corporate names, including a $ 900 million Amgen bio -manufacturing plant and data centers for Amazon.com, Meta platforms and Google of Alphabet. But no investment is greater than the’s of Intel. Intel and Ohio announced the project with great ambitions more than three years ago: it would lead a Renaissance in the production of household slides and strengthen America’s artificial intelligence efforts and national security. Locally, it caused pride and anxiety, including whispering about who benefits, while others bear the burden of development. It also generated questions about whether the area can sustain so much growth – and on the shifting timeline. One-track land roads now lead to New Albany’s industrial complex, which is under constant construction to add roads and buildings. Some of the structures do not have windows or corporate logos. New Albany Mayor Sloan Spalding said he believes Intel will complete the factory because it has already spent billions of dollars for work such as pouring 60 feet deep concrete inertia pillows needed to manufacture slides. State incentives included $ 691 million in road and other infrastructure improvements. New Albany Mayor Sloan Spalding SYS, he expects Intel to complete the Chips project. “This project is too important to fail,” he said, “not just for New Albany and the state of Ohio, but for the country.” Growing Pains New Albany, developed by a company founded with retail manager Les Wexner, contains Georgian architecture and boasts a median household income of $ 200,000. The population is only 11,000, but about 26,000 people work in its business park, which earned $ 47 billion in private investment. The city needs fence of white paddock style in the city, even around Intel. Philip Derrow, a retired business owner and a New Albany resident who writes a column for the Columbus shipping, said he believes as soon as the plant produces slides, people will forget the growing pains. But he acknowledged that some have to do with more direct impact. “If you have one of the country houses who are now staring at the back of a data center, it will be a different view than I have.” The Intel project sits in New Albany, which receives the income of property and income tax. Meanwhile, Johnstown officials, who border on the site, say they bear the pain of heavy construction traffic, but will not reap the benefits of tax revenue. Truck traffic in Johnstown damages roads and transforms the city into “a passage village” instead of a destination, says Hollis, the president of the city council. The income at her dining room in Main Street is 25%lower, and several companies that expected a boost from Intel. Hollis said the property values with land under increasing demand have skyrocketed by developers by developers, and some residents cannot afford the resulting higher property tax, Hollis said. Some residents sold homes to developers early before they knew Intel was coming, and missed the subsequent valuations. Other homeowners are still waiting for offers and in the meantime handle the construction. At Nick McCullough’s nursery just outside New Albany, Pumpkin Spice blows over when false peels go into production every June at a nearby bath products manufacturer, and he is concerned about emissions and water use. He installed an air monitor at his business, one of about 30 planned the residents around the Intel website. “All we ask is that Intel and these other businesses do their caution to protect the people here,” he said. A T-shirt for sale in Johnstown, Ohio, bordering the Intel website. At the Intel grounds, a group of tower torns stood idle and removed from what was once Jim Heimer’s wheat field. Heimerl sold about 300 hectares to a developer and was able to use the profit to buy 1,000 hectares in the region. But he did it hesitantly, he said, after living and working on the farm, he began in 1970. “It’s hard to see,” he said. “I put a lot of blood, sweat and fairness in this place.” Ken Boggs, a retired supervisor for American Electric Power, can see the cranes of his porch. Five years ago, he paid $ 500,000 for 8.5 hectares to collect sheep when he was relieved from full -time work. The property has since been assessed at $ 2 million, and he says Intel’s delay has cost him offers on the ground. While the afternoon sun was bouncing off a dam he holds with bass, Boggs said he was now prepared to accept $ 1.8 million. “If we can triple our money or fourfold, we would like to.” Homeowner knows Boggs says Intel’s construction delay has cost him offers on his property. Write to Kris Maher on kris.maher@wsj.com, catch all the business news, market news, news reports and latest news updates on live currency. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. 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