This August will mark the two-year anniversary of President Biden signing the landmark CHIPS and Science Act and in that short time, New York State has seen a host of companies, including Micron, Qualcom, Global Foundries and IBM announce multi-billion-dollar investments in the Empire State.

The CHIPS and Science Act provides $52.7 billion in federal funding to bolster the nation’s once dominant microchip sector.  As the Orange County Partnership continues its marketing efforts to attract microchip supply chain companies to locate operations in Orange County, the latest data on the CHIPS and Science Act’s impact clearly shows that the semiconductor sector will be a growth sector for years to come.

For example, in late April, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Micron officials celebrated the $6.1-billion federal investment and New York State’s $5.5 billion in performance-based Green CHIPS incentives that are fueling Micron’s transformational $100-billion investment in Central New York.

Micron is creating 9,000 new direct jobs at its Clay, NY facility. In total, the project is expected to create nearly 50,000 jobs statewide, including an average of 5,600 construction jobs per year paying federal prevailing wage. When complete, the complex will include the nation's largest clean room space at approximately 2.4 million square feet, grow domestic semiconductor manufacturing, and enhance the national security by expanding the United States’ chipmaking capacity.

At the time of the Micron announcement in April, state officials noted that New York boasts a robust semiconductor industry of 156 semiconductor and supply chain companies that employ more than 34,000 New Yorkers. The industry is continuing to expand with major investments from semiconductor businesses and supply chain companies like Micron, GlobalFoundries, AMD, Edwards Vacuum, Menlo Micro and TTM Technologies to expanding their presence in New York, the governor noted.

Outside of the Micron deal, New York State’s FY 2025 Enacted Budget, secured an additional $500 million capital investment for NY CREATES’ Albany Nanotech Complex with total state investment of $1 billion to jumpstart a $10-billion partnership that will bring a cutting-edge High NA EUV Lithography Center to the complex. The governor announced the partnership with IBM, Micron, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron and other leaders from the semiconductor industry last year as part of her commitment to establishing a global hub for semiconductor manufacturing in New York. Once completed, this new center will build on other semiconductor-related investments to make New York home to the first publicly owned High NA EUV Lithography Center in North America, support the long-term growth of New York’s tech economy, and create and retain thousands of direct, indirect and union construction jobs.

The budget also includes a $200-million state investment to establish One Network for Regional Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships (ON-RAMP)—a network of four new workforce development centers to prepare New Yorkers for the jobs of the future. As the state continues to attract 21st century businesses in fast-growing industries like semiconductor manufacturing, ON-RAMP will offer credentials and training related to advanced manufacturing and help expand opportunities for disadvantaged populations. The program will focus on strategic, high-impact locations in upstate New York, including a flagship facility in Syracuse overseen by CenterState CEO.

Additionally, the budget includes $100 million in additional funding for the Focused Attraction of Shovel-Ready Tracts New York (FAST NY) program. Launched in December 2022, FAST NY has awarded more than $175 million to prepare more than 2,500 acres across 20 sites in every upstate region for shovel-readiness, a key feature that businesses seek when looking to locate or expand their operations.

A recent article in Area Development related that the CHIPS and Science Act’s chief aim is to bring semiconductor manufacturing and supply chain jobs back to the United States.

“The United States dominated global semiconductor production in the 1980s and early 1990s with companies like Intel, IBM, and Texas Instruments leading the way. About 37% of the world’s chips were manufactured in U.S.-located fabrication plants (fabs) in 1990,” the Area Development article stated. “While most chips and silicon wafers are still designed in the United States, their production has shifted significantly to East Asia, leaving the United States with only 12% of the world’s chip manufacturing in 2020.”