Semitool jobs vital to valley
The sale of Semitool Inc., announced this week, was quite the shocker, and hopefully it will be good news for the Flathead Valley economy.
Applied Materials Inc., once a Semitool competitor, announced that it will purchase Semitool for a whopping $364 million in a deal that will be finalized by the end of the year.
Semitool founder Ray Thompson played up the positives of the sale in a statement: “With this agreement we are providing our employees with a strong future and our stockholders with exceptional value.”
Semitool investors, many of them local, stand to see share values jump to $11 from the current $8.40, a premium increase of about 31 percent.
The big question, of course, is will Semitool retain its presence and jobs in Northwest Montana.
Details about how Semitool employees’ futures will play out in the deal have not been disclosed. Semitool employs 825 people worldwide, with 550 of them in the Libby and Kalispell areas.
Retaining these quality jobs in Northwest Montana is crucial.
AFTER 30-PLUS YEARS of planning, the word finally came down that the Kalispell truck bypass would finally be built — and the bid came in 22 percent under the state’s expectations!
Actually, this first project is only one-half of the southern stretch of the bypass, so a lot of work remains to be done. Still to come is the letting of bids for the second half on Dec. 3, then continued lobbying to obtain funding for the northern half of the bypass.
The new road is expected to be completed by this time next year.
The work on the first phase was awarded to Ames Construction of Utah. Local companies were outbid, which is unfortunate for the local economy, but reasonable for state taxpayers.
In any case, there will still be a boost to the economy, with an influx of workers spending money for food and lodging and with local gravel being used in the construction.
By the way, we note that the official name of the new roadway will be the “U.S. 93 Alternate Route.” That will help to ensure that visitors continue to be directed into downtown Kalispell, where they will be greeted with open arms.