PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Oregon is in hot pursuit of a piece of the $52 billion in manufacturing grants and research investments the federal government has made available to expand semiconductor production in the United States.
The funding was made available through the CHIPS and Science Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022.
Lawmakers in Oregon are currently discussing ways they can increase their chances of being selected after they apply. The application window opens in March 2023.
In a press briefing Wednesday, ECONorthwest and Oregon Business Council highlighted Oregon’s strengths as a contender for more semiconductor fabrication plants and research and development sites.
Dr. Michael Wilkerson, a partner and director of analytics at ECONorthwest, an economics, finance and planning firm in Portland, said no state is better prepared to leverage its existing strengths in its computer and electronics sector than Oregon.
“If we take Oregon’s share of the national GDP in computers and electronics, it’s about 5.4% compared with our share of the population, which is 1.3%,” Wilkerson said.
The study discussed Wednesday reinforces what the Oregon Semiconductor Competitiveness Task Force published in a report in August 2022. The report stated that Oregon has ranked first in the nation for the past two decades in computer and electronics manufacturing and models show that semiconductor industry expansion could provide high-paying jobs to thousands of Oregonians over the next 20 years.
In the study Wilkerson discussed Wednesday, he predicted the creation of semiconductor fabrication plants in Oregon could result in 26,000 annual jobs, that includes construction and operations and supply chain jobs.
As the fabrication plants are expanded, the number of jobs created would expand over the next decade, he predicts.
In the next 20 years, a semiconductor campus expansion could generate $2.8 billion in state net revenue, according to research done by ECONorthwest.
If Oregon secured revenue for a company to construct a semiconductor campus in the state, Wilkerson and his research team predict operations would begin about 5 years later.
Monique Claiborne, president and CEO of Greater Portland Inc., joined the press briefing to say that GPI has been actively recruiting companies to the Portland metro region. It is currently working on seven semiconductor and supply chain-related projects.
“We’re at trade shows, traveling to different markets, hosting familiarization tours, you name it, all to tout the competitiveness of our region. We market the advantages such as labor, land incentives, clean water and cost of living ot semiconductor industries,” she said.
Andrew Desmond, the director of economic development policy at the Oregon Business Council, said there are currently 9-10 semiconductor firms exploring CHIPS-aided investment in Oregon.
He said the state needs to have the right incentives in place, the land required and the best talent and workforce pipelines to secure the investments.
“We’ve missed opportunities in the recent past because we either didn’t have one or all three of the pillars in place. So, the opportunities are out there and we feel that we just need to go out and seize them,” Desmond said.
The companies currently exploring Oregon’s potential are all currently protected under non-disclosure agreements, Desmond said.
When it comes to where in Oregon a semiconductor fabrication plant might be constructed, the Oregon Semiconductor Competitiveness Task Force found that the Portland metro area is the only place in the state that meets the criteria necessary to build a major facility.
Desmond said the two requirements are proximity to a robust ecosystem of specialized suppliers and access to leading talent and workforce.
However, he said it’s extremely likely that smaller fabrication plants and suppliers could be created through other parts of the state.
“While we think it’s much more likely that a really major 500-acre, $10 billion type of FAB is probably going to look to the Portland metro region, we think that there’s really significant opportunities for smaller FAB-type operations all around the state,” Desmond said.
Even if Oregon isn’t selected in the first round of CHIPS Act funding, it could still get it on funds issued in the future. Desmond said the government will release $5 billion in CHIPS Act funds every year after the initial year.