America’s microchip resurgence is gaining momentum, and New York State is accelerating the progress.
Semiconductors lie at the heart of all electronics. They are an essential part of our daily lives – from automobiles to appliances to medical equipment to renewable energy technology for our power grid.
Thanks to the passage of the federal CHIPS & Science Act and New York State’s first-in-the-nation Green CHIPS legislation, the state’s semiconductor industry is receiving attention and resources to address the worldwide chip shortage and supply chain disruptions while bringing manufacturing and advanced packaging back to the United States.
And now, New York State is poised to further accelerate the growth of the nation’s semiconductor industry.
One of our state’s important tools is the robust network of semiconductor innovation resources backed and convened by NYSTAR, Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology, and Innovation.
NYSTAR — just one component of a sweeping state-funded effort that New York has been building for decades — has invested nearly $65 million into semiconductor-related research over the last five years, in addition to other public and private investments into semiconductor infrastructure, facilities and workforce.
Across the state, there are eight NYSTAR-funded centers supporting industry innovation in semiconductors, microelectronics, and photonics while the state has invested in four shovel-ready mega-sites for new fabs in the Mohawk Valley, Central New York, and Western New York, all with plentiful power, water, sewer, and workforce capacity.
Recent semiconductor industry innovations, growth, and incubation in New York include:
- The Albany NanoTech Complex – the most advanced semiconductor research facility of its kind in North America – has already made a lasting impact on the industry and its regional economy. Now, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Governor Kathy Hochul are pushing for it to become the nation’s first National Semiconductor Technology Center.
- Micron Technology is investing up to $100 billion in upstate New York, selecting the Syracuse suburbs to build several semiconductor fabrication facilities. The company cited New York’s talent pool, education system, infrastructure, track record in semiconductor research and manufacturing, and sustainability goals as key to its decision, announced in October 2022. Micron’s new fabs — highly sought after by competing states — are expected to generate around 50,000 jobs.
- Wolfspeed has launched a new Mohawk Valley Fab in Marcy, N.Y., that will be the world’s largest silicon carbide fabrication facility. Further, GM recently announced a strategic supplier partnership with Wolfspeed to develop silicon carbide power devices for GM’s future electric vehicle programs.
- GlobalFoundries, one of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers, announced an expansion at its site in Malta, N.Y., that will lead to the creation of another 1,000 jobs and double its manufacturing capacity.
- NoMIS Power Group, a spin-off from the New York State Center for Advanced Technology in Nanomaterials and Nanoelectronics (CATN2) at SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Albany, is working on a next-generation power semiconductor that uses a newer silicon carbide material. That allows for increased efficiencies and reliability, which means a final product that’s lighter and less expensive to build and run.