The 85-year-old woman has lived on 7 acres of that land since she and her late husband, Paul, built a house there 50 years ago. They raised four children there and welcomed multiple generations of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, including some who lived right next door.
“You can see it’s not vacant land,” Corsi said on a recent warm summer day as she sat on her porch.
Corsi and more than 50 other homeowners on the Intel site aren't being forcibly removed. Two holding companies working on behalf of Intel have spent millions on offers to homeowners, often well-above market rates. The companies paid Corsi just over
But money was never the issue, Corsi said.
“It was the happiness that we had,” she said. “That’s what really hurts.”
Intel announced the
“Silicon Heartland — a new epicenter of leading-edge tech!” Intel CEO
Construction of two factories, or fabs, is expected to begin this year, with production coming online at the end of 2025. Total investment could top
Intel says it expects 2,000 of its 3,000 workers to come from
Backers promote both the project's economic development potential and its national security benefits. The
Biden has pushed for the passage of the federal CHIPS for America Act, currently stalled in
To win the project,
“If you travel 20 miles east of
At first blush, the plant's future location does feel far from anything, surrounded by farms, fields and houses set on multi-acre plots. In fact, it's now part of the booming city of
Her son,
One of Tressie's grandsons,
Tony, 48, acknowledges he was paid well more than what his property was worth. But he also recounts the heart attack he suffered and his wife's ulcer as they dealt with the stress. And negotiations with the holding companies weren't exactly a soft sell, with warnings of living in “a war zone” of trucks and construction if they didn't cooperate.
“There’s not even a gauge that will read out how bad this has been on us,” he said. “It’s been horrible.”
“Our goal while we worked to help put
Even if the project draws out-of-staters, GOP Lt. Gov.
Watching the development unfold with mixed feelings is Tressie's granddaughter,
Tiffany, 45, spent many days on her grandmother's property and proudly displays photos of herself, her daughter Allie and her daughter Amelia, all being bathed in the same kitchen sink over the years.
Tiffany is torn by the project and its impact on her extended family, and she fears that her business will be overrun by chain restaurants. The family is not anti-Intel, she's quick to point out, saying they use Intel products and believe semiconductors should be made on
“But when your heart is with a place — we don’t want it to happen,” she said. “Like you want it to happen, but just not in your backyard.”
At ground zero of the “Silicon Heartland,” the Corsi family spent the last few weeks saying goodbye before Tressie's departure for good last week.
“That tree has been my neighbor for 50 years. So sad to see it is no longer. Terrible,” she posted on Facebook when a farm's centuries-old oak tree was cut down.
Tressie's family removed a section of wall from her house recording her great-grandson Luke's height measurements. Tony used a forklift to remove a boulder at the end of the driveway that grandchildren once raced to and from.
Saving those artifacts provide some consolation to Tressie. But they can't replace the experience of sitting on her porch, sipping coffee in the morning while she watched hummingbirds at the feeder. In recent days, Tressie knew she had to stop filling it.
“Because they'll depend on it,” she said. “And then when they depend on that, when I go, what are they going to do?”
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