IN PERSONAL CALL, SCHUMER PITCHES INTEL CEO TO SELECT UPSTATE NEW YORK FOR NEW SEMICONDUCTOR FAB, BRINGING THOUSANDS OF NEW JOBS TO POWER UP THE ECONOMY & FURTHER ESTABLISH NY AS A GLOBAL HUB FOR THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY; SENATOR SAYS FEDERAL CHIP FAB INCENTIVE LEGISLATION IS A GAME-CHANGER TO LANDING INTEL IN UPSTATE

As Intel Plans To Select Site for Next U.S. Fab Within A Year, Schumer Says NYS Sites like STAMP in WNY, White Pines in CNY, Luther Forest in Capital Region and Marcy Nanocenter in the Mohawk Valley Are All Primed to be Intel’s next Chip Fab site And to Benefit From New Supply Chain Investment

Senator Has Worked For Years To Make Upstate NY The Epicenter Of The Domestic Semiconductor Industry; Pledges Support For Landing Intel Facility And Cementing U.S. & NY Leadership In Chip Technology

Schumer: Bringing Intel To Upstate NY Will Jolt Local Economies, Spur New Jobs, And Further Fuel NY’s Robust Semiconductor Industry

After announcing that a strategic partnership between Intel and IBM will bring hundreds of new semiconductor R&D jobs to New York’s Capital Region, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer followed up on his efforts to cement Upstate New York as the global hub of the semiconductor industry and pitched Intel’s recently-appointed CEO Pat Gelsinger, on how Intel should build on its new partnership with IBM and locate their next semiconductor fabrication (“fab”) plant in Upstate New York.  Last week, Intel shared its plans to select a second site for its next U.S. manufacturing facility within a year, following the announcement of the IBM R&D partnership.

Schumer said New York boasts several sites across Upstate ready to be home to Intel’s next Chip fab, or the supply chain Intel would require, from the STAMP campus in Western New York and the White Pines campus in Central New York, to Marcy Nanocenter in the Mohawk Valley and Luther Forest in the Capitol Region.  Plus, Upstate New York boasts a thriving semiconductor ecosystem as evidenced by the just announced IBM partnership, the state’s top notch universities and world-class workforce, and a diversity of companies across the supply chain. Typically, semiconductor fabs bring thousands of new jobs into a region, a number which Schumer said would be a win-win-win for the local economy, Upstate New York workforce, U.S. competitiveness, and Intel itself.

“Intel’s plans to invest in a second U.S. semiconductor fab offers a game-changing opportunity for Upstate New York and I made it clear to Intel all that New York has to offer to make their U.S. expansion a huge success for the company and the country,” said Senator Schumer.   “With an existing semiconductor ecosystem, including leading R&D companies, premier universities to train the next-generation workforce, a thriving supply chain, and robust utilities that can host advanced manufacturing, Upstate New York is tailor made to be the home of Intel’s new manufacturing facility.”

Schumer added, “An Intel fab in Upstate New York would not only help shore up our domestic production of chips, but it also positions the company to take even more advantage of its partnership with IBM to develop and lead in next generation semiconductor technology, a point I made to Intel’s CEO as they consider further building out their U.S. manufacturing operations in the year ahead. I stand ready to give my all out support in helping Intel harness all that the federal government has to offer to continue to lead the tech industry and position New York as a global hub of semiconductor manufacturing, including pushing to fully fund the federal incentives I created in last year’s defense bill so companies like Intel receive support to invest in U.S. competitiveness and create thousands of new jobs.”

Schumer has long emphasized the importance of active federal support for the semiconductor industry including his push to include provisions in the FY2021 NDAA to create new federal semiconductor manufacturing, R&D, and training programs, noting that even though the U.S. revolutionized the semiconductor and broad microelectronics industries and invented nearly all of the key technology used to this day, by 2030, non-U.S. competitors are projected to control 83% of the global semiconductor manufacturing supply while domestic production could be less than 10%, threatening U.S. reliance on foreign-made microelectronics, including from China, and posing huge risks to U.S. national and economic security.

In a meeting with then-nominee for Commerce Secretary, Gina Raimondo, Schumer raised the urgent need to fully-fund and implement the new Commerce semiconductor manufacturing grant and R&D programs he passed into law as part of last year’s defense authorization, pointing to this Intel investment as an example for why these federal incentives are such a high priority. In February, Schumer announced that the Senate would work on a bill in the spring of this year that includes his bipartisan Endless Frontier Act, which would provide a major infusion of federal funds for federal R&D, including for semiconductors. As part of this competitiveness package Schumer plans to bring to the Senate floor this spring, he will be pushing for emergency funding to implement the federal semiconductor programs created in last year’s defense bill so these critical programs can be implemented to help the U.S. successfully compete with other countries, including China, for new semiconductor manufacturing investment.

Schumer has led the effort to create these historic new federal investments in domestic semiconductor manufacturing and R&D.  Last year, Schumer unveiled his bipartisan American Foundries Act to bolster U.S. leadership in semiconductor and broader microelectronics industries. He successfully added this bill as an amendment in July 20202 to the Senate’s Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The new programs included in NDAA will increase federal support for semiconductor manufacturing by providing new federal incentives to conduct advanced research and development of semiconductor technology, including the creation of the NSTC, secure the supply chain, and ensure national and economic security by reducing reliance on foreign semiconductor manufacturing. 

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