SCHUMER CELEBRATES GROUNDBREAKING MILESTONE AT HISTORIC NEW 600-JOB, $300M+ EDWARDS VACUUM SEMICONDUCTOR DRY PUMP FACTORY IN GENESEE COUNTY, THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN THE UNITED STATES, HARBINGER OF MORE TO COME

Vast Amount of World’s Computer Chips Are Made Using Edwards Vacuum’s Equipment, Schumer Worked Tirelessly To Convince This Major Semiconductor Supply-Chain Company To Build Its First American Factory In Western NY After His CHIPS & Science Law Passed

Thanks To Investment Schumer Has Delivered, Edwards Is Now Working With The Federal Tech Hub He Created To Train Local Workers At Programs Like The Northland Workforce Training Center & Monroe Community College With The Skills They Need To Quickly Fill These Jobs - And Working To Secure Federal Incentives To Accelerate Forward This Project

Schumer: Groundbreaking Is Win-Win-Win for Edwards Vacuum, Western NY’s Economy, & America’s Semiconductor Supply Chain!

After announcing that Edwards Vacuum chose to build a manufacturing facility in Western New York two years ago, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today celebrated the first dry pump manufacturing facility for the semiconductor industry to be located in the United States that is expected to have a $300+ million investment and create a whopping 600+ good-paying jobs.

“This groundbreaking marks major progress toward the opening of Edwards Vacuum’s new dry pump manufacturing facility in Genesee County as a key addition to making Upstate NY a global center for the semiconductor industry. A vast amount of the world’s computer chips are made using Edwards Vacuum equipment, and today Genesee County becomes the beating heart of those efforts for America. From Micron to GlobalFoundries, all the major semiconductor companies in New York and across America need the vacuum technology like Edwards makes for their chip fabs. I urged Edwards Vacuum to expand in Western NY because I knew that it would be a win for Edwards Vacuum, a win for Western NY’s economy, and a win for America’s semiconductor supply chain, and today that is becoming a reality,” said Senator Schumer. “Thanks to my CHIPS & Science Law, which continues to deliver investment after investment for Upstate NY, we are adding another stop to our semiconductor superhighway along the booming I-90 corridor Tech Hub with Edwards Vacuum’s groundbreaking milestone celebration today. Edwards Vacuum is a major player in the semiconductor supply chain, and it’s about to power Genesee County with a $319 million facility and 600 new, good-paying jobs. I am continuing to push for landing the federal incentives from my CHIPS & Science Law to make this project a reality, boosting Genesee County’s economy and positioning Western NY as a hub for Upstate NY and the nation’s semiconductor industry.”

Senator Schumer joined local, state, and Edwards company officials to celebrate the start of the first $127 million phase of the overall $319 million facility construction, which began in April. Construction on the $127 million first phase of Edwards Vacuum's 240,000 square-foot campus will include manufacturing, warehouse, and administration facilities, with a capacity to produce 10,000 dry pumps per year. This new facility will employ 280 newly hired workers, in addition to creating hundreds of local construction jobs. In addition to the job creation and local economic impact, the project is also historic since it will be the first dry pump manufacturing facility for the semiconductor industry located in the United States and it will be one of the most technologically advanced dry pump facilities in the world. The all-electric facility will strive for LEED certification, with a majority of the power generated by hydropower. The facility is anticipated to begin operation in late 2025, with the phase two construction likely to begin before phase one is even completed so production can eventually be doubled to 20,000 pumps per year.

Senator Schumer personally called, Geert Follens, President of the Vacuum Technique Business Area for Edwards parent company Atlas Copco Group, to urge the global semiconductor supply chain company to expand in Upstate New York. Senator Schumer's bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act creates an Investment Tax Credit for semiconductor manufacturing facilities and supply chain partners such as Edwards Vacuum as well as a first of its kind $39 billion in federal incentives for fab and supplier projects, which Edwards is pursuing as part of this new facility construction, to spur American semiconductor research, development, manufacturing, and workforce training to bring good-paying jobs back from overseas, strengthen national security, and reestablish America's technological leadership. The bill requires recipients of these incentives to make worker and community investments that support broad economic growth.

Senator Schumer added, “I’m grateful for Mr. Follens’ partnership and that Edwards heeded my call to make this whopping investment in Western NY. This is exactly the type of partnership I had in mind when writing my CHIPS & Science Law. With more chips manufacturers locating and expanding across Upstate New York including Micron and GlobalFoundries and across the nation, Edwards Vacuum’s arrival will help support the regional supply chain and pump hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment into Western NY’s economy. Together, we’re turning this region into a semiconductor superhighway.”

Edwards Vacuum's commitment to building this facility in New York State followed passage of Schumer’s federal CHIPS and Science Act, New York’s Green CHIPS legislation, and the domestic semiconductor industry growth that these complementary programs have spurred, particularly in New York, including Micron's unprecedented more than $100 billion megafab project in Central New York, which is expected to create nearly 50,000 jobs, and GlobalFoundries’ expansion in Malta, NY – both projects supported by billions in federal investment from the CHIPS and Science Law. Edwards dry pumps are currently manufactured in Asia. By bringing manufacturing to New York, new chip fabs such as Micron and GlobalFoundries in New York, and Intel in Ohio, to name a few – can have access to the critical dry pumps that will now be made in the U.S., which will offer chip producers shorter wait times, improved responsiveness, and reduced CO2 emissions from an American-made product. 

All chip fabs, from Micron to Global Foundries and beyond, need vacuum technology like Edwards makes to power the sophisticated equipment and state of the art machine tools needed to make their computer chips.  Those tools need and use vacuum pumps, like those that will now be made in Western New York, to manipulate the chip wafers to manufacture the finished microchips.

“Edwards Vacuum’s commitment to Upstate New York will create 600 good-paying jobs and attract additional investment in both Western New York and the Finger Lakes regions,” Governor Hochul said. “Between New York’s Green CHIPS Program and the federal CHIPS and Science Act, we’re empowering a manufacturing resurgence in our state, ensuring we're positioned as a global hub for innovation and the epicenter of semiconductor manufacturing nationwide.” 

“Genesee County commends Edwards Vacuum for the progress they have made at STAMP to realize the growth of critical supply chain manufacturing for our growing semiconductor industry,” said Rochelle Stein, Chair of the Genesee County Legislature. “So many people are working so hard to realize the vision we all have for STAMP, and today’s event is proof that staying the course and being steadfast brings us another step closer to that vision.” 

"We congratulate Edwards Vacuum for today's milestone and celebrate the investment they are making at STAMP to grow Genesee County's economy and strengthens New York's position as an emerging leader in the semiconductor and semiconductor supply chain industries," said Mark Masse, President & CEO of the Genesee County Economic Development Center. "We look forward to continuing to work with Edwards Vacuum as the company builds here and just as important recruit the talent they are seeking to make this facility a leader in the semiconductor supply chain industry."

Senator Schumer last year helped the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse region win the prestigious Tech Hub designation through his CHIPS & Science Law and last month secured an historic $40 million investment to implement the Tech Hub’s work with companies like Edwards. The proposal called the “NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub” has built on the historic investments Schumer delivered that have spurred a boom in semiconductor manufacturing and innovation across Upstate NY. Edwards Vacuum is working with Tech Hub partners like Monroe Community College, Erie Community College, and the Northland Workforce Training Center to help them hire and train hundreds of new workers.

“The addition of 600 new jobs will help bolster Western NY’s economy. I’m glad that Edwards Vacuum is already working with our Tech Hub partners to hire and train hundreds of new machine operators, welders, technicians, engineers, and more, including many new union construction workers,” added Senator Schumer.

Semiconductor manufacturers and their supply chain partners, are vital to the nation's economic strength, serving as the brains of modern electronics and enabling technologies critical to U.S. economic growth, national security, and global competitiveness. The industry directly employs an estimated 338,000 people in the U.S. and supports more than 2 million additional domestic jobs. Semiconductors are a top six U.S. export, and the industry is the number one contributor to labor productivity, supporting improvements to the effectiveness and efficiency of virtually every economic sector — from farming to manufacturing. In 2022, Governor Hochul signed New York's nation-leading Green CHIPS legislation into law to attract top semiconductor manufacturing businesses to the state and secure commitments to good-paying jobs, sustainability, and community benefits as the industry makes new investments in the U.S. spurred by Schumer’s CHIPS and Science Law.

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