SCHUMER ANNOUNCES GLOBALFOUNDRIES HAS REACHED $1.5 BILLION CHIPS AWARD AGREEMENT WITH FEDS, NY’S FIRST AND THE NATION’S LARGEST CHIPS INCENTIVE GRANT THUS FAR FROM SCHUMER’S CHIPS & SCIENCE LAW; WITH CHIPS SUPPORT, GLOBALFOUNDRIES PLANS TO BUILD SECOND FAB IN CAPITAL REGION TO SUPPORT U.S. AUTO, DEFENSE, & OTHER KEY INDUSTRIES CREATING THOUSANDS OF GOOD PAYING JOBS

GlobalFoundries Plans To Construct New State-Of-The-Art Fab In Malta & Invest Over $12 Billion Into Expanding Operations Over The Next 10+ Years, Adding Thousands Of New Good-Paying Manufacturing And Union Construction Jobs

Schumer Created CHIPS Program, Including Key Support For Legacy Chips Like Those Made By GlobalFoundries Which Are Critical To Our National Security And Essential To The Auto Industry That Saw Prices Sky Rocket During The Pandemic Due To Chip Shortages

Schumer: Because Of My CHIPS & Science Law, GlobalFoundries Is Making NY’s Capital Region The Heart Of America’s Supply Chain For Legacy Chips

After years of relentless advocacy to help GlobalFoundries grow in the Capital Region and to position Upstate NY as a global hub for semiconductor R&D and manufacturing, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today announced GlobalFoundries has reached a $1.5 billion preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) funding agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce under the CHIPS & Science Law. This is the first agreement for a New York company and is the largest potential award yet from the CHIPS Incentives Program funded by Schumer’s CHIPS & Science Law.

“I have long said my CHIPS & Science Law would deliver big for New York, and I meant big with a capital ‘B.’ I am proud to announce GlobalFoundries has reached a preliminary agreement for the largest award thus far from the CHIPS program I created for $1.5 billion in grant funding. This will triple production capacity of GlobalFoundries’ already massive campus in Saratoga County, spur billions in public-private investment, and help bring thousands of new good-paying manufacturing and union construction jobs to the Capital Region,” said Senator Schumer. “When I wrote the CHIPS & Science Law, I made sure there was funding especially for the feature-rich, legacy chips that GlobalFoundries produces in Malta and that are essential for America’s auto industry and national defense. We all remember the days of the pandemic when chip shortages sky rocketed car prices and created supply chain issues leading to months-long wait times for cars and electronics, and investments like this are how we can help prevent that from happening again.  Ever since GlobalFoundries’ first Fab 8 broke ground 15 years ago, I knew how significant the company would be for the Capital Region and Upstate NY. Today, the plans for their second chip facility and thousands of new good-paying jobs move forward thanks to the CHIPS & Science Law I fought hard to create.”

Schumer added, “We have only scratched the surface of the investment New York will receive from my CHIPS & Science Law, further transforming Upstate New York to lead the global semiconductor industry. We are just getting started, and with today’s announcement, I will continue to deliver the investment to ensure America’s semiconductor future will run through New York.”

This federal funding is part of an over $12 billion public-private investment over the next ten plus years to construct a second, new state-of-the-art computer chip factory, expand GlobalFoundries’ current chip manufacturing fab for the automotive industry in Malta, as well as strengthen GlobalFoundries’ Vermont operations, adding secure capacity for essential chip manufacturing for key markets. GlobalFoundries feature-rich, legacy chips are essential to technology used by people every day, from cell phones to cars. Currently, there are only four companies outside of China that provide current and mature foundry capabilities at the scale of GlobalFoundries – and GlobalFoundries is the only one of those companies that is headquartered in the United States

GlobalFoundries, a Trusted Foundry for the Department of Defense, is an essential supplier of chips for America’s national defense and military, along with supplying chips to other key industries like AI, aerospace, and auto, among others, with strong partnerships with major supplies like Lockheed Martin and GM, which saw severe shortages of chips during the pandemic, leading to increased prices for cars. The investment will support the expansion of GlobalFoundries’ current fab focused on automotive chips to help meet soaring demand for chips in cars.  

Schumer continued, “Investments in GlobalFoundries’ expanded manufacturing is how we can fix our supply chains to help reduce costs, end our reliance on foreign-made chips, and bring jobs back to our shores, with the future made in the Capital Region not China.”

Schumer said the planned, second New York fab will be focused across a broad range of markets and applications including automotive, aerospace, defense, and AI to meet expected customer demand for U.S.-made essential chips. This investment will approximately triple the capacity of GlobalFoundries’ production in New York over the next decade. In total, these investments are expected to create up to 1,500+ manufacturing jobs across GlobalFoundries’ sites, on top of the 2,500 employees that GlobalFoundries already employs in Malta, and thousands of new union, construction jobs. The PMT also proposes approximately $10 million in dedicated workforce development funding for GlobalFoundries to work with local workforce, education, training, and community-based organizations to provide the manufacturing and construction talent needed now and in the future. In recognizing the critical importance of child care for its operations, the company will not only continue to provide its $1,000 annual subsidy and child care support service to its growing facility workforce but also extend these benefits to its construction workers. Schumer said major public-private partnerships like this were his vision when he championed the CHIPS & Science Act, and now Upstate New York is quickly becoming a global hub for the semiconductor industry thanks to his efforts.

The PMT outlines key terms for GlobalFoundries’ CHIPS award. To finalize the award, the Commerce Department will now begin a comprehensive due diligence process on the proposed project and other information contained in the application. After satisfactory completion of the due diligence phase, the Commerce Department will finalize the award.

Schumer funded the CHIPS Incentives Program in his CHIPS & Science Law to help bring the semiconductor industry back from overseas and spur companies to make major investments in America and Upstate NY for this industry vital to our national and economic security. Now, as a direct result, hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment have been proposed to expand production at GlobalFoundries and dozens of other companies to support America’s goals of bringing semiconductor manufacturing back to the U.S and increasing competitiveness on a global scale.  

Schumer has a long history of bolstering both GlobalFoundries’ presence and the overall growth of the semiconductor industry in Upstate New York. In May 2020, Schumer introduced his Endless Frontier Act to make a major investment in U.S. innovation in critical industries, including semiconductors.  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), passing the new federal semiconductor incentives into law in December 2020.  As part of the CHIPS & Science Law, Schumer also made sure to include a set-aside of at least $2 billion in investment from the CHIPS Incentives Program to support the production of legacy chips like those made by GlobalFoundries and that are essential to our defense, auto, and other critical industries. Last year, Schumer also announced a major partnership between GlobalFoundries and Lockheed Martin to advance U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, spurred by his CHIPS & Science Act. This came one year after Schumer announced $117 million in federal funding through the Defense Production Act for GlobalFoundries to provide a strategic supply of U.S.-made chips to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for national security systems.

Schumer has fought tirelessly to lift up the Capital Region and Upstate New York as a major hub to lead the nation in semiconductor manufacturing and research, including advocating for Albany Nanotech to become a major hub for the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) in his CHIPS & Science Act. Prior to the passage of the CHIPS & Science Act, Schumer not only brought the Commerce Secretary to Malta to highlight opportunities for expansion at GlobalFoundries, but also arranged for Secretary Raimondo to meet with NY CREATES and industry leaders to discuss the unique assets the region has for leading the NSTC. Most recently, the senator helped announce a $10 billion public-private partnership with leaders from the semiconductor industry including IBM, Micron, and others to bring a major new expansion to Albany Nanotech, spurred by the upcoming NSTC competition funded by his CHIPS and Science Law.

Thanks to Schumer’s CHIPS and Science Act, 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. Wolfspeed recently opened the first, largest, and only 200mm silicon carbide fabrication facility in the world in the Mohawk Valley. In addition, Upstate New York is home to suppliers like Corning Incorporated, which manufactures glass critical to the microchip industry at its Canton and Fairport, NY plants, and Edwards Vacuum, which has announced a $300+ million investment to build a dry pump manufacturing facility to support the chip industry in Western New York.

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