Silicon Border Development Company

A long-delayed project to attract computer chip makers to the Mexico-California border is getting a green makeover. Silicon Border Development said Wednesday that it had obtained financing to move ahead with a science park in Mexicali, Mexico, thanks largely to a new strategy of targeting companies in the fast-growing solar energy industry. German solar cell manufacturer Q-Cells is on track to break ground soon in the 3,000-acre site just across the border from Calexico, Calif.

A private development firm is expected to break ground today in Mexicali, Mexico, on a proposed industrial park that the developers hope will lure technology companies from Asia with tax incentives and government grants. The 15-square-mile site is just south of the U.S.-Mexico border, 120 miles east of San Diego. Silicon Border Development plans to spend $425 million on infrastructure for the site, including utilities, roads and water and sewer lines.