SCHUMER’S CHIPS & SCIENCE LAW DELIVERS HISTORIC $6.1 BILLION FEDERAL PRELIMINARY CHIPS AGREEMENT FOR MICRON
Schumer, Author Of The CHIPS & Science Law, Went All Out To Land Micron In CNY – One Of The Largest Private Investments In American History – And Fought Relentlessly For Years To Deliver This Historic Investment, Which Now Takes A Monumental Leap Forward To Make It A Reality
Funding Directly From Schumer’s CHIPS Law Is Spurring Micron’s Plans To Construct Four State-Of-The-Art Fabs In Clay & Invest Over $100 Billion Over The Next 20+ Years – The Largest Private Investment In NYS History – Adding Roughly 9,000 Direct Manufacturing Jobs And Over 40,000 Union Construction, Supply-Chain, & Indirect Jobs
Schumer: Historic Grant. Historic Investment. Historic Moment For Syracuse And Upstate NY.
After years of relentlessly advocating to bring Micron to Central NY, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer today announced Micron has reached a $6.1 billion preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) funding agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce under his CHIPS & Science Law for Central NY and Idaho combined.
“This monumental and historic federal investment will power and propel Micron to bring its transformative $100+ billion mega-fab project over 20+ years in Central New York to life, creating an estimated 50,000 jobs, and reinventing the region and Upstate New York’s economy into the heart of America’s manufacturing resurgence and an epicenter of the global semiconductor industry,” said Senator Schumer. “The New York portion of the preliminary chips agreement specifically supports the construction of the first two fabs by the end of the decade as part of the over $100 billion, four-fab project in Central NY. Without the federal incentives funded by the CHIPS and Science Law I Led to passage, including the Commerce CHIPS funding and the investment tax credit, Micron and other major chips projects in New York and around the country would not be happening at the transformational scale that is occurring.”
“This is one of the largest single direct federal investments in Central NY’s history. A whopping $6.1 billion from my CHIPS & Science Law is coming to ensure Micron builds its cutting-edge chip-manufacturing fabs right here in both Central New York and Idaho. This is a landmark day for New York and for America, which will manufacture the advanced memory chips that power the world’s economy to secure its economic primacy and national security,” added Senator Schumer.
This federal funding is part of a planned landmark $100+ billion public-private investment over the next two decades – the largest private investment in New York’s history – and was made possible thanks to Schumer’s push to bring Micron to Central New York. Schumer worked tirelessly for years alongside state and local leaders to advocate to Micron the many benefits Upstate NY offered, including reliable and cheap water and power, workforce, top-notch educational and research institutions, and other capabilities to lead in semiconductor manufacturing and innovation, resulting in Micron choosing Clay for its memory chip fab complex.
“To all those who have had their doubts, believe it, Micron is here, Micron is real. And now with billions in federal investment from my CHIPS & Science Law, we are taking the next steps to get shovels in the ground to transform the Syracuse region and all of Upstate into a global hub for the chips that will power America’s future,” said Senator Schumer. “From smartphones to AI to our nation’s most sensitive defense technologies, the memory chips Micron makes are in nearly every product of our modern economy, but as the pandemic showed when we don’t shore up our supply chains and make these chips in America it can sky rocket prices and threaten our national security. This investment will build a more secure economy for the entire country, with Micron in Central NY as its beating heart.”
Schumer added, “Our goal here is to be gone with the days of seeing our children and grandchildren leave the community they love because there are no more jobs. Today is the dawn of a new day, the beginning of the future for Upstate NY that I have long envisioned and that I had in mind when crafting and fighting so hard to pass into law my CHIPS & Science Law.”
Over the next 20+ years, Micron plans to build a colossal complex of memory chip plants in Central New York, constructing up to four manufacturing plants at White Pine Commerce Park in Clay. The company’s plans call for building a clean-room space that will cover about 2.4 million square feet, the size of almost 40 football fields. Micron is the fourth-largest producer of semiconductors in the world and makes memory chips which are essential to technology people use every day, from cellphones to cars to the AI software that powers emerging technologies. The PMT for federal CHIPS incentives to Micron will support the construction of Micron’s fabs in Central NY and Idaho to help meet soaring demand for the chips Micron makes across the U.S. and the world.
Schumer said this partnership was his vision when he brought Micron to Syracuse and when he championed the CHIPS & Science Act. Now, Upstate New York is quickly becoming a global hub for the semiconductor industry thanks to his efforts. This is the second agreement for a New York company from the CHIPS Incentives Program funded by Schumer’s CHIPS & Science Law. Earlier this year, Schumer announced that GlobalFoundries in the Capital Region had reached a $1.5 billion in direct grant funding under his CHIPS & Science Law, with an additional $1.6 billion in loans available, for a combined $12.5 billion public-private investment over the next ten plus years to expand and construct a second, new state-of-the-art computer chip factory in Malta, NY.
Schumer fought for years to bring Micron to Upstate New York, working with federal and state officials to demonstrate why New York was best suited for the company, starting with his Endless Frontiers Act. In May 2021, Schumer met with Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra to pitch Micron on locating a future fab in Upstate New York and specifically White Pine. Simultaneously, he also brought top Commerce Department officials to Upstate NY to show them why Upstate NY was primed for the major federal investment needed to make this project a reality including bringing Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves to CNY and Mohawk Valley industry leaders and Secretary Raimondo. Schumer went through multiple rounds of discussions with Mehrotra to show how Central NY was best suited for Micron, as well as brought Micron leaders to Upstate NY multiple times to show why they should pick the region for their complex of chips factory. After the passage of New York State’s “Green CHIPS” incentives, championed by Governor Hochul, Schumer doubled down on showing how passage of the CHIPS Act would secure the federal incentives necessary to ensure Micron would invest in the U.S., including potentially in Upstate NY. Finally, Schumer announced Micron chose New York in October 2022, with the incentives from his CHIPS & Science Law as the lynchpin to enabling their planned over $100 billion investment that is supported by the historic PMT being made to Micron by the Commerce Department.
Schumer funded the CHIPS Incentives Program and created the CHIPS investment tax credit 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 to strengthen our national security, shore up our domestic supply chains to prevent shortages and price increases, and rebuild parts of the country like Upstate NY with good-paying, Middle Class jobs. Now, as a direct result, hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment have been proposed to expand production at Micron and several other companies to support America’s goals of bringing semiconductor manufacturing back to the U.S and increasing competitiveness on a global scale. The Commerce Department has received more than 630 statements of interest, more than 180 pre-applications and full applications for funding through the CHIPS program.
Thanks to Schumer’s CHIPS and Science Act, Upstate New York has seen a major revival in tech manufacturing. 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. Wolfspeed recently opened the first, largest, and only 200mm silicon carbide fabrication facility in the world in the Mohawk Valley. 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 over $50 million to build their a 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 at STAMP in Western NY, creating 600 good-paying jobs to support the growing chip industry in Upstate New York.
The preliminary agreement to provide this historic federal CHIPS funding to Micron is the culmination of years of work by Schumer to create this funding, with the result being his CHIPS & Science Law. 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 CHIPS 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. Schumer’s Chips & Science Act provided over $52 billion in federal funding to implement these new Commerce incentives and created an Investment Tax Credit for semiconductor manufacturing facilities to spur American semiconductor research, development, manufacturing, and workforce training to bring these good-paying jobs back from overseas, strengthen national security, and reestablish America's technological leadership.
The PMT outlines key terms for Micron’s CHIPS agreement. To finalize the federal CHIPS agreement, 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 PMT.
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