Letter from Wyden, Merkley, Bonamici, Hoyle, Salinas: “We stand ready to welcome you to our state, celebrate the progress made in the past two years, and share our vision for the future of Oregon’s semiconductor industry.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley along with U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Val Hoyle and Andrea Salinas today urged top federal officials to visit Oregon this month so the state can showcase the jobs and investment generated by the CHIPS and Science Act as the landmark legislation marks its second anniversary.
“In keeping with our excitement about Oregon’s thriving semiconductor industry and its potential, we respectfully invite you to join us in Oregon on a mutually agreeable date to celebrate the second anniversary of the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act and to convene diverse, innovative, and engaged leaders from across the Silicon Forest,” the Oregon lawmakers wrote in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and National Institute of Standards and Technology Director Laurie Locascio. “We stand ready to welcome you to our state, celebrate the progress made in the past two years, and share our vision for the future of Oregon’s semiconductor industry.”
In their letter on the eve of the Aug. 9, 2022 anniversary of President Biden signing the CHIPS and Science Act, the lawmakers thanked Raimondo for visiting Oregon’s Silicon Forest last year. Wyden, Merkley, Bonamici, Hoyle and Salinas highlighted that Oregon’s semiconductor industry employs roughly 33,000 people and is the state’s largest manufacturing sector. They also cited multiple historic investments over just the past two years in Oregon’s thriving semiconductor industry from the historic federal legislation along with significant investments by the state.
“Intel recently doubled down on its commitment to Oregon by expanding and modernizing its fabs at the Gordon Moore Park campus at Ronler Acres in Hillsboro with a $36 billion investment, supported by $8.5 billion in federal CHIPS incentives and the investment tax credit for domestic manufacturing of semiconductors,” they wrote. “Microchip Technologies has also agreed to a $72 million PMT (preliminary memoranda of terms) to increase its production of specialty semiconductors in Gresham, Oregon”.
“Together, these investments by the Biden Administration will create thousands of high-tech, high-paying jobs—many of which are accessible to workers of all backgrounds,” the lawmakers wrote. “Importantly, the Biden Administration’s Good Jobs Principles provides a framework to create high-quality jobs that empower semiconductor workers. This guidance, published jointly by the Department of Commerce and Department of Labor, outlines principles for employers to create good jobs, including that all workers should be able to form and join unions, enjoy a safe, healthy and accessible workplace, and have job security with high quality pay and benefits. We are eager to see these jobs come to fruition in Oregon”.
The letter also noted that Oregon’s businesses and research institutions have also received more than $9.25 million in awards issued by the National Science Foundation under the CHIPS and Science Act.
Among those awards is a recent $1 million grant to Portland State University to establish paid internships in the chips industry for underrepresented students; and a $500,000 planning grant for the Corvallis Microfluidics “tech hub,” led by Oregon State University to support entrepreneurial development and provide tools and services to align with each distinct stage of scaling a product, from R&D to commercialization to high-volume manufacturing.
“We urge the Department to continue its consideration of Oregon’s rich resources and demonstrated commitment to the semiconductor industry as it continues to implement the various programs authorized under the CHIPS and Science Act,” wrote Wyden, Merkley, Bonamici, Hoyle and Salinas. “The Silicon Forest’s innovative ecosystem enables Oregon to maximize federal CHIPS investments, compete internationally, and educate a high-tech workforce. Oregon’s semiconductor industry is deeply rooted throughout our state and the region and particularly in Washington County.”
The entire letter is here.
A web version of this release is here.
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