SCHUMER ANNOUNCES $9.4 MILLION TO HELP SMALL BUSINESSES GROW & TAP INTO THE BOOMING SEMICONDUCTOR SUPPLY CHAIN ACROSS UPSTATE NY
Funding Will Help Grow NY’s Semiconductor Supply Chain By Providing Technical Assistance To Small Businesses Growing In The Semiconductor Industry Across Upstate NY Supporting Ongoing Work With The Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse Tech Hub, Mohawk Valley Edge, The Capital Region CEG & Empire State Development
Schumer: Fed $$$ Will Supercharge Upstate NY’s Growing Semiconductor Superhighway!
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today announced New York State has been awarded $9.4 million, with $1.5 million in matching funds from Empire State Development (ESD), to help small businesses across Upstate NY tap into and grow in the semiconductor and microelectronics industries. Schumer said this new program will help maximize the local impact of the billions in investment we are seeing across Upstate NY from companies like Micron, GlobalFoundries, and Wolfspeed thanks to his CHIPS & Science Law by breaking down barriers to help small businesses enter and expand into the semiconductor supply chain.
“Small businesses across Upstate NY want to enter the booming semiconductor industry, but they can’t do it alone. This major $9.4 million in federal funding will help provide critical technical assistance to boost effort to make it happen. This is how we maximize the benefit of companies like Micron, GlobalFoundries, and Wolfspeed’s expansions in Upstate NY, helping existing businesses grow and adapt to lead in the next frontier of technology. This will help boost efforts along the I-90 Tech Hub I secured and help Upstate NY build a robust supply chain from Buffalo to Utica to Albany that further positions the region as a global center for chip manufacturing,” said Senator Schumer. “I fought to secure historic funding for the State Small Business Credit Initiative in the American Rescue Plan and urged Secretary Yellen to prioritize funding for supply chain development, including in the semiconductor industry, because I know that support for small businesses is critical to our efforts to bringing manufacturing back home to America. Today’s federal investment further supercharges Upstate NY’s growing semiconductor superhighway!”
With this funding, New York will implement the Semiconductor Growth Access Program (SGAP). The program will provide technical assistance – including legal, financial, and accounting services – to existing small businesses to grow in or pivot to the semiconductor and microelectronic supply chain. This will help those businesses upgrade and expand their equipment, building a chip manufacturing cluster across Upstate New York. Additionally, SGAP will create a shared regional purchasing roundtable of large manufacturers and tier 1 suppliers, designed to provide regular access to purchasing opportunities for participating businesses.
The SGAP program will work alongside the Supply Chain Activation Network (SCAN), a project of the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse NY SMART-I Corridor Tech Hub, which Schumer fought to secure and has already delivered $40 million of federal funding to support. It will also support critical semiconductor supply chain growth with partners at the Mohawk Valley Economic Development Growth Enterprises Corporation (EDGE), and the Capital Region Center for Economic Growth (CEG).
“New York has become a global leader in high-tech manufacturing – and we're just getting started,” Governor Hochul said. “This $9.4 million investment from the State Small Business Credit Initiative will be critical as we work to connect underserved and very small businesses with the resources they need to succeed. Working with the Biden-Harris Administration, we're creating even more jobs and opportunities for all New Yorkers.”
Schumer previously led 15 senators in urging U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to use State and Small Business Credit Initiative funding to bring manufacturing back to the United States to strengthen domestic supply chains, including in the semiconductor industry. The American Rescue Plan Act reauthorized and expanded SSBCI, which provides nearly $10 billion to support small businesses and empower them to access the capital needed to invest in job-creating opportunities. Schumer supported state and local capital and technical assistance initiatives for small businesses to rebuild the economy coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thanks to Schumer’s CHIPS & Science Law, Upstate New York has seen a major revival in tech manufacturing. Micron has announced plans for a historic $100+ billion investment to build a cutting-edge memory fab in Central New York with the support of an over $6 billion preliminary CHIPS agreement. GlobalFoundries plans to invest over $12 billion to expand and construct a second, new state-of-the-art computer chip factory in the Capital Region, with support of a $1.5 billion preliminary CHIPS agreement. Wolfspeed has opened the first, largest, and only 200mm silicon carbide fabrication facility in the world in the Mohawk Valley, with plans to further expand their operations. TTM Technologies, a printed circuit board manufacturer, plans to invest up to $130 million to expand their facilities in Onondaga County, creating up to 400 good-paying jobs. Menlo Micro will invest $150 million to build their microchip switch manufacturing facility in Tompkins County, creating over 100 new good-paying jobs. In addition, Upstate New York is home to semiconductor supply chain companies like Corning Incorporated, which manufactures glass critical to the microchip industry at its Canton and Fairport, NY plants, and following Schumer’s advocacy, Edwards Vacuum has announced a $300+ million investment to build a dry pump manufacturing facility, creating 600 good-paying jobs to support the growing chip industry in Western New York.
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