Investment Made Possible by Brown’s CHIPS and Science Act; Will Create Additional Jobs and Ensure Ohio’s Manufacturing
Leadership in the Industries of the Future; Brown Led the Fight for Ohio’s Intel Project
WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 20, 2024 – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced the awarding of a major new investment necessary to build the Intel plant in Licking County and cement Ohio’s leadership in the semiconductor industry. These funds are from the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which Brown was instrumental in writing and passing. The funding announced today will boost Intel’s initial investment, creating additional jobs and building a new regional chipmaking ecosystem, anchored by the construction of two leading-edge logic fabs and expanded leading-edge foundry capacity.
The U.S. Department of Commerce and Intel Corporation have reached an agreement to provide up to $8.5 billion nationally in direct funding under the CHIPS Act, including approximately $50 million in specific funding for worker training and development to create new opportunities for Ohioans to develop the skills necessary for the good-paying jobs created by this project. The agreement also includes $11 billion in loans under the CHIPS Act. The combined private and public sector investment will create 3,000 manufacturing jobs and 7,000 construction jobs in Ohio. As part of this investment, Intel and its partner Bechtel have signed a Project Labor Agreement with the North America Building Trades Union for the construction of the two leading-edge logic fab facilities. Intel has devoted significant resources to develop a pipeline of skilled workers in Ohio, funding over 80 educational institutions across the state, including community colleges, HBCUs, and universities.
“This investment is vital to completing the Intel project, and it’s why we wrote the CHIPS Act – to make Ohio a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing. Today’s announcement is a major step forward in our work to create thousands of good-paying jobs, strengthen our supply chains, and bring manufacturing of this crucial technology back where it belongs: Ohio,” said Brown. “I’ll keep fighting to ensure that Ohio workers lead the world in producing the technologies of the future.”
As severe semiconductor shortages in 2020 and 2021 cost Ohio manufacturers business and led to layoffs at auto plants and months-long waits for products, Brown worked with the business community, labor, and members of both parties to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to the U.S., and ensure that future generations of chips are made in America, specifically in Ohio. Americans invented the semiconductor, but today produce just 12 percent of the global semiconductor supply – 75 percent are made in East Asia.
Brown pushed for bipartisan legislation to make investments like Intel possible, and in July 2022, the U.S. Senate passed his CHIPS and Science Act, which includes historic funding for domestic semiconductor manufacturing. The bill re-asserts American leadership not only in semiconductor design and development, but also semiconductor production. The legislation is supporting and growing domestic supply chains, investing in Ohio manufacturing jobs, and reducing costs for Americans by reversing decades of offshoring.
As the Senate worked to write the CHIPS and Science Act, Intel committed $20 billion in investment to build a semiconductor plant in New Albany, which is expected to create 10,000 jobs and support critical Ohio industries, like the auto industry and other high-tech manufacturing. Brown worked with local and state leaders and other members of Ohio’s Congressional delegation to ensure that Intel had the necessary funds to build in Ohio what will be its most advanced manufacturing facility in the world.
Following passage of the CHIPS Act, Brown immediately began working to ensure that Ohio and the Intel project would benefit from the legislation and pushing the Administration to quickly implement the law, so projects like this could move forward. He led the entire Ohio delegation in pushing the Administration to approve CHIPS funding for the Intel project. Brown is also working to prevent project delays and ensure that work on the Ohio project moves forward quickly. He introduced the Building Chips in America Act to ensure federal environmental reviews are completed in a timely manner for these microchip projects supported by the CHIPS Act by streamlining approval for projects currently under construction and others that could be delayed, and by providing the Secretary of Commerce greater tools to more effectively and efficiently carry out reviews.
The Commerce Department received more than 620 statements of interest, and more than 170 pre-applications and full applications for this Notice of Funding Opportunity. Of these, the Ohio project was one of only four sites selected – along with projects in Arizona, New Mexico, and Oregon – and was the only project in the Midwest.
Production Quality Download of Brown Talking About the Announcement Here