Semiconductor plant in Ohio breaks ground
Workers began the groundbreaking of Intel’s new semiconductor manufacturing plant September 9, strategically flanked by politicians with midterm elections two months away.
The company’s expansion marks the first major investment in domestic microchip manufacturing directly linked to the passage of the CHIPS & Science Act, championed by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and signed into law on Aug. 9.
A rendering of the new Intel processor factories near Columbus, Ohio, which mark the largest single private-sector investment in state history.—Intel image
“This groundbreaking represents the commitment we made in the CHIPS & Science Act: to grow good paying jobs in the United States. Intel’s $20 billion plant will employ more than 3,000 people and its partnership with the National Science Foundation will quickly put more than $10 million into workforce development at community colleges across the country and into scholarships for semiconductor education,” said Sen. Cantwell. “We cannot afford to get left behind in designing and manufacturing the next generation of chips, or in educating the semiconductor workforce. That’s why I fought so hard to get this law over the finish line.”
Intel had previously announced its plans to build a new semiconductor manufacturing plant in Ohio at the beginning of the year. But in July, CEO Pat Gelsinger warned that the company would delay its plans to break ground on the $20 billion site if Congress was unable to pass the CHIPS & Science Act, which included a $76 billion federal investment to spur domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
Comments