Heredia Province
Costa Rica's tech corridor: Intel's 2,400 engineers, 7.2% semiconductor GDP share, National University talent pipeline, coffee heritage meets chip manufacturing
Heredia Province is Costa Rica's brainpower corridor—a compact Central Valley territory where coffee finca heritage meets semiconductor manufacturing in the country's tech transformation. Intel's 2024 engineering center expansion to 2,400 staff for chip design and testing anchors a broader semiconductor sector contributing 7.2% of national GDP with $3.8 billion in annual exports. Free trade zones here offer compelling economics: $18/sqft office rents versus $24 in San José center, $0.08/kWh utility costs, proximity to 45,000+ tech specialists concentrated in the Greater Metropolitan Area. The National University of Costa Rica (UNA) feeds the talent pipeline, with over 4,000 tech graduates entering the workforce annually, trained in Java, Python, and JavaScript. Yet Heredia's tech present rests on coffee past: the tropical climate—distinct rainy and dry seasons—created ideal conditions for cultivation that shaped the province's economic identity before silicon displaced beans. IBM's 2024 cybersecurity academy certified 850 specialists, while AWS trains 2,000+ cloud professionals yearly. With 92% of Costa Rican coffee grown on small family plots under 5 hectares, the province embodies the coexistence of artisanal heritage and industrial-scale tech.