Scalise to Retire, SIA to Opt for Closer Government Contact
As its president prepares to retire, the SIA also plans its move from Silicon Valley to Washington, D.C., which outgoing president George Scalise sees as inevitable. "There are so many things that are going on with regard to taxes, energy, conservation, ESH regulations, that are taking on much more of an important role," he said.
Alexander Braun, Senior Editor -- Semiconductor International, 11/12/2009
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA, San Jose) faces two major changes that portend a fundamental transformation for the familiar industry association: George Scalise, its president since 1997, will retire, and the SIA will abandon its headquarters in Silicon Valley and relocate to Washington, D.C. Both these events will take place by the end of 2010.
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| George Scalise, SIA President |
Scalise expects to continue his work on behalf of the SIA and be instrumental in the selection of his successor, and help his successor through the necessary transition process. "I expect this to be a fairly conventional process," Scalise said. "I do not see anything unusual about it other than it will be a little bit longer than ordinary, but we had already planned it that way a year ago." Scalise indicated that once the transition period is over and he retires, he does not expect to have any further role in the SIA.
Regarding the organization's move to the nation's capital, Scalise views it as inevitable. "There's a feeling that there are more and more things that are impacting the industry, which are best dealt with in Washington," he said. "The board thought that this was the best way to handle that. There are so many things that are going on with regard to taxes, energy, conservation, ESH regulations, that are taking on much more of an important role. And therefore we're going to have to regularly deal with them and make certain that we get our voice heard as these policies, and in some cases legislation, are pulled together."
The reasoning seems to be that a physical presence at Foggy Bottom will make an actual difference, that by being there, it will be possible for SIA members to be more readily available for some of the sessions or other activities that take place in the drafty halls of government. "From that standpoint," Scalise said, "I believe we can be more effective."
Asked if he had any concern that the move might work in reverse - that by leaving Silicon Valley the SIA will distance itself from the industry - Scalise shrugged off the concern. "You have to remember that Silicon Valley now is just a piece of the much larger ecosystem that makes up the industry. The industry is no longer just the Valley. There's considerable manufacturing taking place in Oregon, in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, New York. While what was once the absolute center is still seen as such in many ways, because the headquarters for many companies are still here; however, much of it has certainly migrated around the country."
According to Scalise, the SIA board is very satisfied with the success the industry is having in dealing with the issues that concern it the most - trade, funding of basic research, keeping the immigration issue on the front burner (this is yet to be dealt with), R&D tax credits, and other issues that have been at the forefront of the industry's interests. "But things have changed," Scalise pointed out. "If you look at the regulatory process that has been in place versus what appears to be on the horizon, there are going to be innumerable more things to deal with than in the past. We want to be certain that our voice is truly being heard and that our interests are being taken care of."
Among the innumerable things to which Scalise referred are greenhouse climate protection activities and their possible impact on the industry if some of the regulations presently being contemplated are implemented. "The results could be both costly as well as very difficult to comply with," he said. "They're now considering reporting requirements, monitoring requirements, etc. These are new, and they are going to be much more burdensome to deal with. The point is that we're going have to spend more time on some of these issues than we did before."
These had not been concerns before. The semiconductor industry has always had excellent monitoring programs in place in its manufacturing areas. It is the cleanest industry, so there is a need to ensure that if new programs are going to be mandated, the industry will be involved in making sure that things are done correctly.
"Ten years ago we began a program to deal with PFCs (although we used very little)," Scalise recalled, "to ensure we were reducing the global warming impact of anything going on in the industry. We set an objective of 10% lower greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere while the industry continued to grow. We've always had very active and aggressive programs of this kind, but now it seems that they're going to be looking at things that are going to be even more difficult to comply with. So we must ensure that we're involved with all these new requirements from day one to influence how they unfold."
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