Honeywell Electronic Materials Inc., a unit of Honeywell International Inc., is planning an expansion at its Spokane Valley-based plant, located at 15128 E. Euclid.

The proposal, dubbed Project Copperfield, would increase production capabilities, upgrade manufacturing systems and equipment, improve existing workflows and efficiencies, and combine all manufacturing of copper purification into one facility, according to a State Environmental Policy Act checklist filed with the city of Spokane Valley.

The expansion will consist of a new 111,000-square-foot manufacturing building, a new 3,300-square-foot chemical storage building, and 136 additional parking spaces at its plant, representatives of Honeywell say in an email to the Journal. The site's existing 196,000-square-foot facility will remain.

Representatives of the company decline to disclose the cost of the project. However, a comparable project for a 101,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution facility for AMI Metals Inc. is under development in Spokane Valley for $9 million.

The plant, located on the southwest corner of Sullivan Road and Euclid Avenue, manufactures a variety of products, including sputtering products, compound semiconductors, high-purity metals, wire ribbon, and a variety of metal products produced for sale to the semiconductor manufacturing industry, documents on file with Spokane Valley show.

“Construction is projected to start in Q3 2025 and the building is expected to be completed by Q4 2027,” representatives of Honeywell say. “The product line will continue to be assessed for potential improvements and expansion according to market requirements.”

Garco Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor on the project and will be responsible for selecting an architect, according to a Honeywell spokesperson. 

More than 80 employees will be added to Honeywell's current 300 employees at the Spokane Valley plant as a result of the expansion.

Project Copperfield will add to the manufacturing process within the sputtering target market, encompassing activities such as refining, casting, fabrication, machining, and shipping, representatives say.

“Honeywell manufactures high-purity (99.9999%) copper target discs in Spokane that are used by customers in the semiconductor industry for building microchips with enhanced communication speeds between transistors,” representatives of Honeywell say.

Honeywell representatives say the proprietary process results in targets with high strength and ultrafine, uniform grain structure with a design that supports improved functionality in end products, “which typically involve complex systems where performance increases at the chip level have cumulative effects.”

According to Spokane County Assessor's Office records, the current facility occupies a portion of a 20-acre parcel of land. The proposed project would expand Honeywell's existing footprint, completing the development of the remaining 5 acres of the property, documents show.

The existing facility includes a parking area and buildings for deep tank refining, chemical storage, machining and fabrication, casting, security, and conference rooms, planning documents show. 

The proposed expansion will occur on the southern portion of the property, which is currently occupied by a parking area and open fields.

An established parking lot on the south side of the property will be demolished and reconstructed to the east of its current location, documents show. 

“The existing workforce will be retained and be provided with training on automation technologies as part of the expansion,” says a Honeywell spokesperson. “Automation introduced in the expansion will shift current roles toward more technologically advanced responsibilities focused on automating work processes.”

Honeywell Electronic Materials operates under Honeywell International Inc., an publicly traded multinational corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Representatives say the company has over 100,000 employees.