ANN ARBOR – KLA Corporation held the grand opening of its newest North American headquarters in northeast Ann Arbor on Friday morning.
Three years in the making, KLA officially broke ground on its new campus in late 2019 and plans to welcome employees into the nearly finished facility later this month.
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The $200 million state-of-the-art facility features a green roof, five-story atrium, and will house a fitness center, cafeteria, coffee shop and EV charging stations for its employees. Surrounded by woods, employees will also have access to a walking trail.
The 230,000-square-foot campus will be home to nearly 1,000 employees as KLA pushes to hire 600 new workers to add to its more than 330-strong team.
The global technology company plays a key role in developing services and equipment for semiconductor chip manufacturers.
“Virtually no laptop, smartphone or smart car could be made without KLA technology,” reads a press release.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer attended the event alongside KLA executives from the corporation’s Milpitas, California headquarters, officials from University of Michigan and other local industry leaders.
“We’re grateful to KLA,” Gov. Whitmer said at the event. “When you began looking for places to locate and build your R&D center back in 2018, you had a lot of options. You could have gone anywhere in the world. Three hundred and fifty North American locations were under consideration and in the end you picked Michigan. And true to our reputation as innovators, KLA will continue to find a welcoming, supportive and fruitful home here in the state of Michigan.”
KLA President and CEO Rick Wallace is a University of Michigan alumnus and said Ann Arbor was the ideal location for the company to open its second U.S. headquarters.
“Not a lot of people know who we are,” said Wallace. “We’re a pretty well-kept secret, but I think we’re an amazing company that’s done some incredible things because of the talent that we have. I’d say in many parts of the country, Michigan’s a secret; Ann Arbor’s a secret.”
Wallace said the biggest factor in opening a campus in Ann Arbor is talent. With such a close proximity to the University of Michigan and as a growing tech hub in the Midwest, he said Ann Arbor ticks all the boxes.
“We’re in a war for talent, so we have to create an environment like this that’s attractive for people,” said Wallace. “We also have to have a community that is desirable for people to live in. Ann Arbor punches well above its weight. It’s a great place to live. It’s a great place to grow a family.
“We have people moving from California who can’t afford to grow their family in the Bay Area and here they’re thrilled at the opportunity they’ve seen, let alone the natural beauty that’s here.”
The building, designed by Ann Arbor’s SmithGroup, boasts sweeping forest views, open concept work areas, a 51,000-square-foot clean room for KLA’s R&D efforts and an underground parking lot.
To learn more about KLA and to see its latest job openings, visit www.kla-tencor.com/careers.