SCHUMER INVITES NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION DIRECTOR TO SYRACUSE TO SEE FIRSTHAND HOW UPSTATE NEW YORK CAN LEAD AMERICA’S INNOVATION ECONOMY; WITH MAJOR INVESTMENT FROM MICRON AND OTHER COMPANIES ON THE HORIZON, SCHUMER PUSHES FEDS TO INVEST IN TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF WORKERS FOR THOUSANDS OF NEW JOBS IN CNY
Schumer’s Historic CHIPS & Science Bill Has Already Spurred Thousands Of Good-Paying Jobs And Hundreds Of Billions In Investment For Upstate NY—Including Micron’s Game Changing $100B Investment In CNY
Now He Wants The Head Of The National Science Foundation To Come To Syracuse, The Epicenter Of Upstate’s Growing Semiconductor Industry, To Push For Further Fed Investment In STEM Job Training So Upstate Workers Are Ready To Build The Future Of Technology
Schumer To NSF: Come To Syracuse And See For Yourself How Fed $$$ Can Prepare The Next Generation Of CNY Workers For Micron And Bring Manufacturing Back To America
As the National Science Foundation prepares to make major investments in technical training programs critical to supporting the emerging semiconductor industry in Upstate NY, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today personally invited Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), to join him in Syracuse to meet with key stakeholders and see with his own eyes how Central New York is primed to be a global manufacturing hub.
“I want the NSF Director to learn directly from local stakeholders about their needs for preparing a new generation of workers, of all ages and backgrounds, for these good-paying jobs,” said Senator Schumer.
Schumer explained that his bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act is already spurring major investment across Upstate New York, including Micron’s historic $100 billion proposed investment in Central New York, along with other major investments from companies like Wolfspeed in the Mohawk Valley, Edwards Vacuum in Western New York, GlobalFoundries in the Capital Region, and IBM and onsemi in the Hudson Valley. Schumer prioritized the inclusion in the CHIPS and Science Act a major infusion of investment in the NSF’s STEM workforce training and education programs, including $200 million dedicated to preparing workers for the semiconductor and broader microelectronics industries. Schumer then secured in last year’s omnibus a historic increase in funding for the NSF to implement training programs through community colleges and universities, including the expansion of the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships Directorate, which was a Schumer-authored provision.
Schumer said, “Upstate community colleges and universities can receive money to create this new workforce training, including technical training programs key to supporting the growing semiconductor industry in Central New York, which has an urgent need with the arrival of Micron, one of the largest economic development projects in U.S. history.”
Now, the senator is inviting the NSF Director to see firsthand the region’s incredible workforce and research facilities that, with further federal backing, can produce the workers necessary for the success of this project, ensuring the creation of good-paying manufacturing and innovation jobs for years to come and solidifying Upstate NY’s standing as a global manufacturing hub.
“Micron's $100 billion investment in Upstate New York will be transformational and will make Upstate New York a global powerhouse in the semiconductor industry. But for this project to succeed, we need to get to work putting Upstate New Yorkers to work. That is why I am personally inviting NSF Director, Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan to Syracuse, because now is time for the National Science Foundation to see firsthand what I have long known: That Central New York is uniquely suited to bring manufacturing back to America and power the nation’s technological leadership for decades to come,” said Schumer.
“When I created the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, I made sure to include major investment for STEM education and training, so we can prepare and put to work New Yorkers in the many thousands of new, good-paying manufacturing, innovation, and construction jobs that will be created by Micron and other companies investing hundreds of billions of dollars across Upstate New York,” Schumer added.
Last year, Schumer secured $9.87 billion for the National Science Foundation through an end of the year spending package. The omnibus included an increase of over $1 billion for the NSF, the largest dollar increase for NSF in history.
Schumer is also pushing for $11.3 billion in funding for the NSF that was included in President Biden’s budget for Fiscal Year 2024, a $1.43 billion increase from Fiscal Year 2023 that would build onto the historic funding Schumer secured last year as outlined in his CHIPS And Science Act.
This investment is on top of the $200 million appropriated in the CHIPS and Science Act for the CHIPS for America Workforce and Education Fund for the NSF to kick start development of the domestic semiconductor workforce, which faces near-term labor shortages.
There are currently open funding opportunities that can support training and education programs to build out the Upstate New York semiconductor workforce, and Schumer wants the NSF Director to share details on those opportunities with local universities and other stakeholders during his visit to Syracuse. Beyond these current funding opportunities, Schumer is also pushing the NSF to implement as soon as possible the other funds he secured in last year’s omnibus appropriations bill for workforce training and research that is fueling the Upstate New York innovation economy, including putting to use new investment through the NSF’s new Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships Directorate that Schumer originally proposed in his Endless Frontier Act and that was made permanent in the final CHIPS and Science Act.
Schumer said this surge of funding will be important for workforce training in the chip industry, as well as other innovation industries in Central New York and beyond like quantum computing, AI, clean energy, and more. These programs will ensure we put Upstate New Yorkers to work in these good-paying jobs to make sure the hundreds of billions of dollars in proposed investment in new manufacturing and R&D in Upstate New York is a success.
A copy of Schumer’s letter inviting Dr. Panchanathan, Director of the National Science Foundation to Syracuse appears below:
Dear Director Panchanathan:
I write to request that you soon join me for a roundtable event in Syracuse, New York so you can learn directly from local stakeholders how Micron Technology’s historic $100 billion investment will position New York as a global hub for semiconductor manufacturing and help power American leadership in innovation for decades to come. An estimated 50,000 jobs will be created across Upstate New York from this investment. Tens of thousands of other manufacturing and innovation jobs are also being created in the Upstate New York region thanks to significant federal investment from the Infrastructure Jobs and Investment Act, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act. For these federal and private sector investments to be a success, we need to prepare a new generation of technical workers to fill these jobs. We have no time to waste on this critical and urgent priority, and the National Science Foundation (NSF) can be a central federal partner in delivering the resources and support required by our universities, community colleges, K-12 schools, workforce training and labor organizations, and other training providers to prepare workers of all ages and backgrounds for these good-paying jobs.
Your partnership and leadership in helping to pass the CHIPS and Science Act was critical to getting the job done. Now I want to work closely with you to make the hundreds of billions of dollars of new investments spurred by this bill a success, including not just Micron’s historic $100 billion project in Central New York, but also investments by Wolfspeed in the Mohawk Valley, Edwards Vacuum in Western New York, GlobalFoundries in the Capital Region, and IBM and onsemi in the Hudson Valley. And that’s just the microchip industry. The major pieces of legislation I led to passage last Congress are creating a massive expansion of other innovation industries in Central New York and beyond like quantum computing, AI, clean energy, and more. Now we must ensure we have the people to put to work in these new, good-paying jobs. That is why I worked with you while drafting the CHIPS and Science Act to include $200 million for the CHIPS for America Workforce and Education Fund so NSF could have dedicated funds to address labor shortages in the semiconductor industry. That is also why I fought so hard to include $9.87 billion for the NSF in last year’s omnibus appropriations bill, an increase of over $1 billion for the NSF, the largest dollar increase for NSF in history, to implement the STEM training and education programs we created or expanded in the CHIPS and Science Act.
Now we must get to work putting Upstate New Yorkers to work in these fast-growing industries. I know there are current funding opportunities through the NSF that can support regional and state stakeholders who are focused on developing the workforce required to meet the needs of Micron and broader industry across Upstate New York. A roundtable event in Syracuse will provide you with an opportunity to learn more about these efforts and for you to share details with local leaders on how best to access federal funding and support. I also encourage you to swiftly implement the significant funds from last year’s omnibus, on top of the $200 million in CHIPS workforce funding. These federal dollars are critical to a quick ramp-up of workforce training and education programs.
I look forward to you joining me in New York. Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
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