Schumer Says U.S. Will Provide $6.1-B For Chip Plants In NY, Idaho

The Biden administration has reached an agreement to provide $6.1 billion in government support for Micron Technology to produce advanced memory computer chips in New York and Idaho, reported Josh Boak for the Associated Press AP).

The investment is targeted to lead to an estimated 9,000 direct jobs and 40,000 construction jobs.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., personally courted Micron to build what would ultimately be a set of four chip factories near Syracuse in the town of Clay.

He noted in a Wednesday interview that the announcement was a sign to voters about how Democrats were reviving the manufacturing sector. "It will be the biggest memory chip plant in America," said Schumer.

"For the Syracuse area, this is the best thing that’s happened probably since the Erie Canal."

The comparison to the 1825 infrastructure project that connected the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean is audacious, but it gets at the possible magnitude of the economic impact as well as the national security stakes in an increasingly digital world.

Including the government support, Micron plans to invest $100 billion in upstate New York over the next two decades.

The investment is targeted to lead to an estimated 9,000 direct jobs and 40,000 construction jobs. Micron has also announced plans for a $15 billion memory chip plant in its hometown of Boise, Idaho.