Colorado’s Economic Development Commission on Thursday approved more than $12 million in economic development incentives to a “prime semiconductor manufacturing company” in Colorado Springs.

The commission, under the Office of Economic Development and International Trade, decided the company’s proposed expansion — which would add more than 640 jobs with an average salary of $88,024 — would be a boon to the region and bolster the state’s semiconductor chip industry.

“This project will help to secure Colorado’s supply of semiconductors in a sector with a simultaneously inflexible and critical supply chain,” according to a summary of the offer. “This project will secure future growth and investment from a company that has had continuous success in Colorado.”

Commissioners used the code name “Salsa” for the project because “due to the nature of the company, further identification would jeopardize the company’s confidentiality.”

The company is weighing Colorado’s offer against proposals from other states where it could expand, including Arizona, Oregon or Virginia.

“The company is determining whether to expand on their Colorado property or if another location offers better facility rates or deeper discounts (see property tax abatement in Oregon),” according to the summary.

The company has already purchased land in El Paso County for a potential $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion expansion project, noting “in 3-5 years they will run out of space with their current operations.”

One of the commissioners said that just because the company purchased land, it doesn’t mean it will expand in El Paso County.

“It’s such a small part of the overall capital investment that expansion would cost, it doesn’t mean they’re coming here.”

The company might well be Microchip Technology, which announced plans earlier this year to spend $40 million retooling its Colorado Springs semiconductor plant with new technology that will result in adding 50 to 75 employees during the next six months. The Chandler, Arizona-based company said it will install equipment to move from 6- to 8-inch diameter wafers that will nearly double the number of chips it can produce.

It employs more than 700 in Colorado Springs and has been there for many years, dating back to when it was known as Atmel Corp. Microchip bought it in 2016. The company also operates in Arizona and Oregon.

The company actually owns 35 acres off 1150 E. Cheyenne Mountain Blvd. for its existing 500,000-square-foot campus with 11 buildings, according to El Paso County Assessor records. The “purchased land” could refer to a 15-acre plot right next to that campus, which it bought in 2000 for $1 million for a planned expansion. That expansion was supposed to add a 700,000-square-foot facility, but plans stalled after the foundation was poured and it has sat vacant since, according to Gazette archives.

Company officials declined to comment Thursday morning.

El Paso County and Colorado Springs don’t collect business personal property tax for things like office furniture or construction equipment. That’s an automatic incentive for businesses, said El Paso County Assessor Steve Schleiker.

“If you’re building a chip manufacturing plant, or a hub full of servers here in this community, the value is really in the equipment — not the building or the land,” said Schleiker.

Neither the city nor the county would comment on Project Salsa.

The cited average salary for the new jobs is 167% of the average annual wage in El Paso County. Jobs would include engineers, plant managers and technicians.

The company would earn up to $12,379,172 in Jobs Growth Tax Incentive Credits for up to eight years to create at least 644 jobs.

“This award would aid in attracting significant investment in the semiconductor industry which is critical to increasing Colorado’s competitiveness in a lucrative industry,” according to state documents. “Semiconductor manufacturing of this nature supports supply chain factors with spillover into applications vital to Colorado’s knowledge-based economy.”

Gazette business reporter Wayne Heilman contributed to this report.