New Intel chip plant may help consumers who want to purchase new vehicles

DAYTON — The Intel Corporation announced Friday that a new $20 billion chip manufacturing plant will be going up near Columbus, in Licking County.

The announcement was good for those struggling to order vehicles, as the new plant will make microprocessors.

Matt Newton, city of Dayton fleet manager, told News Center 7′s Mike Campbell that the city has been impacted the recent chip shortage.

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Each year the city orders 75 to 100 vehicles. This last year, Newton said they had nine orders cancelled.

“90 percent of the issues are the chips,” Newton said.

Newton said it has been frustrating and the shortage has been impacting pickup trucks, light duty trucks and other vehicles.

“We’ve also got countless vehicles and I brought a stack of them, these orders we are still waiting on. Most of them were ordered 12 months ago, sometime around February or March,” Newton said.

Due to the cancelled and delayed orders, the city has had put more money into salvaging older units to keep the running.

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One of the specific types of vehicles orders have been police cruisers. Newton said they city was lucky to get the 20 cruisers they ordered in 2021. Now, they have crossed their fingers, hoping the 18 cruisers they ordered for 2022 will come in.

“That’s one of the few vehicles that have been able to be delivered,” Newton said.

As for the other trucks and equipment the city is currently waiting on, Newton said there is “no telling” when any of it is going to come in.

On Friday, the initial part of Intel’s plan was announced and called for the company to build two chip-making facilities on the 926-acre site by 2025. However, Intel said they plan to expand on the property to include eight total chip-producing facilities.

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