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Jim Short makes move to Linear

Former WaferTech exec takes up similar post two miles away

By Cami Joner
Published: January 1, 2014, 4:00pm

Veteran technology executive Jim Short has been hired by Linear Technology Corp. to oversee facilities, operations and projects at the chipmaker’s Camas plant, a similar position to his previous longtime post at the nearby WaferTech fabrication plant.

In Short’s 17-year tenure at WaferTech’s Camas plant, he served as director of facilities, and environmental health and safety, and was involved in the construction and startup of the facility.

At the Linear plant, Short is responsible for infrastructure support and capital projects.

“It’s a good opportunity,” Short said of his move from WaferTech’s 1 million-square-foot complex to Linear’s 105,000-square-foot factory on Pacific Rim Boulevard less than two miles away.

Demand in industrial and automotive markets has pushed growth at Linear, which makes 6-inch silicon wafers in Camas for analog computer chips, according to the company’s 2013 annual report. It reported revenues of $340.4 million in the fiscal quarter ending Sept. 29, an increase of $13.1 million over the previous quarter and a $5.2 million year-over-year increase.

Linear Technology’s Silicon Valley headquarters are in Milipitas, Calif.

The company has long discussed the possibility of a major expansion in Camas, where it owns a vacant, 16-acre site just south of its facility at 4200 Pacific Rim Blvd. In 2011, a Linear spokesman said Camas remained its preferred site for expansion. But the company has made no official inquiries about growth plans, said Phil Bourquin, the city’s community development director.

Bourquin said he has not seen a proposal to expand the Camas WaferTech campus either. The site was rumored in 2013 as one of three possible development sites considered for a new manufacturing facility by its parent company, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.

Calls and emails seeking comment from Linear Technology’s corporate offices were not returned.

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