These days it’s rare to hear good economic news, but New York state just received some great tidings. The Empire State will be home to a new semiconductor production hub located in Syracuse.
The expansion and manufacturing hub will come with a price tag of $100 billion in the next two decades and is a massive boost to the local economy.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul broke the big news Tuesday, saying her own connections helped her convince Micron to set up shop in Syracuse.
How Many Jobs Will This Create?
This expansion by Micron is expected to create up to 9,000 new jobs at the company and 40,000 jobs in the wider area that spring up as a result of the production facilities.
That’s almost 50,000 jobs coming to the Syracuse area. It is sure to draw a ton of families to the region, which has had its fair share of economic troubles in recent years, like many other areas of the country.
This is set to be around two-and-a-half million square feet of factory space, equivalent to more than 40 football field stadiums put together.
Senator Chuck Schumer’s CHIPS Act is being credited with securing this deal, which is giving around $6 billion in subsidization to Micron in return for bringing the jobs to the state.
Micron is headquartered out of Boise, Idaho and maintained a revenue of $27.7 million last year. It has around 40,000 employees and is expanding in other locations as well, including in Japan.
Micron will spend up to $100 billion over at least the next two decades building a new computer chip factory in upstate New York.
The announcement comes after the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act. Micron's CEO credited the law's passage for making the investment possible.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 4, 2022
The New Semiconductor Gold Rush?
The semiconductor industry is crucial to the future of the economy and also national security. China has a big lead in the industry and Taiwan is one of the world’s biggest producers.
Building up America’s ability to make computer chips and chips which are vital in national defense and other sectors is a key advantage of this deal as well.
In addition to the planned expansion at Syracuse, Joe Biden will be going to Poughkeepsie, New York as well to speak at IBM, which is also raking in handsome subsidies thanks to the benefits of the CHIPS Act.
IBM’s location in Poughkeepsie is an important hub and is also involved in quantum computing and moving technology forward to the next level.
As we all are hopeful for the #Micron deal in #CNY, Lets look at how these types of deals have panned out for NY #Democrat Leadership in the past.
The Onondaga "Film Hub", $15 Million to build, Sold for $1 to Onondaga County, No films ever made…https://t.co/9o6wRK1dfZ— 🇺🇲Say No to Cuomo🇺🇲 (@SayNoToCuomo) October 5, 2022
The Bottom Line
This is big news for New York and a rare win for Governor Hochul. With big expectations and numbers, let’s hope this lives up to the promises that are being made.
We’ve seen in the past how the Democrat Party has a habit of over-promising and under-delivering, especially when it comes to the economy.
A film studio built at Onondaga in 2014 for $15 million, for example, was sold for just $1 million recently and completely fell through despite the pie-in-the-sky promises of former NY Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Let’s hope the Micron expansion is the real thing and exceeds expectations!
