Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Kihei plant
puts Maui
in the chips

Trex Enterprises will
produce light-sensitive
camera components

By Gary T. Kubota
Maui correspondent

KIHEI, Maui -- In the high-stakes game of computer technology, a major chip has fallen in Maui's favor.

Trex Enterprises yesterday celebrated the opening of a $1.1 million facility in Kihei to manufacture digital image sensor chips for video and still cameras.

"I hope that this manufacturing will further enhance the quality of life of the people," said U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, a key supporter who encouraged the company to expand facilities in Hawaii.

Trex Enterprises Vice President Allen Hunter said the light-sensitive chip could also be used for night surveillance and security.

Hunter said the facility has received a shipment of high-definition TV chips and is applying a special semiconductor coating through a patented process to make it light sensitive.

He expects the coating facility in Kihei to generate about $800,000 a month from producing 20,000 chips.

Trex Enterprises, based in San Diego, has been working with the U.S. Department of Defense under a $15 million contract at the nearby Maui Research & Technology Center in Kihei.

The company began operations in Hawaii in 1991, conducting research and development and maintenance at the Maui Space Surveillance Site on Haleakala.

Trex has facilities on Kauai, where it is developing advanced materials for the semiconductor industry and specialized coatings for hardened machine tools.

Hunter said the company employs 29 people in Hawaii and expects to be hiring more in the future.