SCHUMER: AFTER PASSAGE OF HIS HISTORIC BIPARTISAN CHIPS & SCIENCE BILL, SCHUMER MAKES FINAL PUSH, CALLS ON PRESIDENT TO SIGN INTO LAW AND MAKE CNY THE EPICENTER OF AMERICAN CHIP MANUFACTURING, WITH WHITE PINE MEGA SITE NATION’S TOP LOCATION FOR MAJOR INVESTMENT
Semiconductor Chips Are Integral To Everyday Life From Cars To Refrigerators, But Most Are Not Made In The U.S. Threatening National Security, Worsening Inflation and Increasing Costs For Families, & Weakening U.S. Competitiveness
Senator’s Bill Will Boost Investment In Chip Manufacturing as well as 5G & Quantum Computing; With Rome Lab, Top Universities, JMA Wireless And Sites Like White Pine & Marcy Nanocenter, The Region Has Major Opportunity To Secure Fed $$ And New Chip Fabs
Schumer: We Need To Make Semiconductors In Syracuse Not Shanghai!
After years of relentless advocacy for the growing Central New York tech economy, and now with the his historic CHIPS & Science Bill passed through Congress, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer today doubled down on his attempts to bring chip manufacturing to the White Pine Commerce Park Mega-Campus and boost tech and manufacturing jobs in Syracuse and across Upstate New York. Schumer explained that large chip manufacturers are already interested in sites like White Pine and the Marcy Nanocenter due to their shovel-ready infrastructure, the region’s strong workforce, and world-renowned research capabilities, and the federal semiconductor incentives in his legislation would further the effort to lure new investment and jobs to Central New York and the Mohawk Valley.
“After years of pushing we are now days away from of my historic bipartisan Chips & Science bill finally becoming law, and Central New York is primed to reap the rewards and win big by using this new federal investment to potentially lure major new employers to the region. I wrote this bill with places like White Pine in mind because of the tremendous potential to fundamentally transform the region’s economy with thousands of new good-paying tech and manufacturing jobs,” said Senator Schumer. “When you combine the chip manufacturing potential at White Pine and other sites like Marcy Nanocenter and STAMP in Genesee County, with Globalfoundries planned expansion, Wolfspeed’s new fab, and onsemi soon acquiring a facility in East Fishkill, NY, coupled with world-renowned research capabilities at the Albany Nanocenter and across New York universities, Upstate New York could be the nation’s leader in an industry that will dominate the this century. Simply put – this is the 21st Century’s Erie Canal!”
Schumer added “This legislation also means big things for top local employers like JMA Wireless in Syracuse – which will be first in line for nearly $1.5 billion in federal incentives for strengthening the wireless industry supply chain– and for top research institutions like Syracuse University and Rome Lab that will help our nation leap ahead in key technology areas like quantum computing. We must make sure future technology in Syracuse, not Shanghai, in Central New York, not China.”
Schumer explained that Upstate New York is uniquely suited to bolster the nation’s chip industry with some of the most shovel-ready sites in the country including the White Pine Commerce Park, Marcy Nanocenter, and STAMP. Each site holds large parcels of available land and access to cheap, reliable power and water, to quickly locate a semiconductor manufacturer and the necessary supply chain as the federal incentives from his legislation spur new domestic investment. Schumer said that the region is at the epicenter of critical infrastructure from Interstates 90 and 81 to international airports, rail lines, and deep-water ports and that the region has one of the greatest concentrations of colleges and universities in the nation, fueling a highly trained workforce, as well as proximity to premier R&D at institutions like the Albany Nanocenter. The industry has already taken notice of the tremendous benefits offered by Upstate New York, as highlighted by Globafoundries planned expansion in Malta and Cree-Wolfspeed’s $1.2 billion investment to build the world’s largest 200mm Silicon Carbide semiconductor facilities at the Marcy Nanocenter, which will create over 600 jobs, and onsemi’s acquisition of a facility in East Fishkill that is expected later this year.
Specifically, Schumer highlighted that the bill includes:
- $39 billion for the CHIPS for America Fund to provide federal incentives to build, expand, or modernize domestic facilities and equipment for semiconductor fabrication, assembly, testing, advanced packaging, or research and development.
- $11 billion for Department of Commerce research and development including creating a National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) a public-private partnership to conduct advanced semiconductor manufacturing, with Albany Nanotech primed to be a top contender to serve as a major hub for the NSTC, and other specialized R&D programs that universities across the state are in a strong position to compete for.
- $2 billion for the DoD CHIPS for America Defense Fund.
- $200 million for the CHIPS for America Workforce and Education Fund to kick start development of the domestic semiconductor workforce, which faces near-term labor shortages, by leveraging activities of the National Science Foundation.
- A new Investment Tax Credit for semiconductor manufacturing facilities and equipment.
- $10 billion Regional Technology Hubs to support regional economic development efforts around the country to not only research and innovate technologies, but also manufacture them here in America.
- $1.5 billion for the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund to spur the race to 5G, software-based wireless technologies, and innovative ‘leap-ahead’ technologies in the U.S. mobile broadband market. Schumer said that New York companies like JMA Wireless would be first in line for the $1.5 billion in federal incentives for next generation telecommunications tech included in his bill. This investments builds on the $65 billion to expand high-speed internet across the country passed in the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law in which Schumer made sure to include Build America, Buy America provisions to ensure companies like JMA Wireless would build the technology used in the high-speed internet expansion.
- $13 billion to build the STEM workforce. Authorizes funding for STEM education, including scholarships, fellowships, and traineeships to create workers in critical fields, including to establishing an artificial intelligence scholarship-for-service program, a national network for microelectronics education, and cybersecurity workforce development programs.
- $2 billion to strengthen small manufacturers. Triples funding for Manufacturing Extension Partnership, to support small- and medium-sized manufacturers with cybersecurity, workforce training, and supply chain resiliency.
- Increased investment for National Science Foundation (NSF) Research and Development Programs, including through a new technology directorate as proposed in Schumer’s original bipartisan Endless Frontier Act, and STEM education and training programs. Schumer said the region’s top research schools like Syracuse University, SUNY Poly, and others would be able to tap the increased investment for the NSF. Community colleges would also be able to utilize new investment for workforce training, including for the semiconductor industry.
Schumer has fought non-top to elevate Central New York and the Mohawk Valley as prime regions to benefit from federal investment in its growing tech industry. Earlier this year, Schumer personally brought Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves to meet with CNY and Mohawk Valley industry leaders and see first-hand the region’s rapidly emerging high-tech hub, and particularly learn how the region is primed to power and revive the nation’s semiconductor industry. During the visit, Schumer and Deputy Secretary Graves also toured JMA Wireless’s new facility in Syracuse to highlight it’s potential for manufacturing the technology needed to expand high-speed internet throughout the country.
Schumer has a long history of fighting to advance semiconductor manufacturing and R&D and the broader tech economy at the federal level. In May 2020, Schumer introduced his bipartisan Endless Frontier Act to surge new investment into federal R&D through the creation of a National Science Foundation technology directorate focused on key technology areas like quantum computing, advanced energy, AI, high performance computing, and more. Schumer’s Endless Frontier Act also proposed a new $10 billion regional technology hub program to invest in regions around the country with great potential to lead the nation in technology research, development, and manufacturing. In June 2020, Schumer introduced his bipartisan American Foundries Act to authorize new federal incentives for expanding domestic semiconductor manufacturing and R&D. Schumer successfully added this bill as an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). In June 2021, Schumer then successfully passed through the Senate his U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), legislation he introduced that combined his Endless Frontier Act to make a significant investment in research, development, manufacturing and innovation with other competitiveness legislation. As part of this package, Schumer also included $52 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations to implement the semiconductor-related manufacturing and R&D programs that he had successfully pushed to authorize in the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act and that are at the heart of the bill which passed today. The House passed its companion legislation to USICA, the America COMPETES Act, this past January and negotiations continue to reconcile the differences between the two bills. The bill that has just passed through Congress combines the federal semiconductor incentives Schumer has been pushing with the investment in R&D, tech hubs, manufacturing, and other innovation programs from his Endless Frontier Act.
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