Federal, state laws provide incentives for Micron to build chip plant in Clay

CLAY, N.Y. — State and federal officials, along with the leadership at Micron Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), point to the federal CHIPS and Science Act and New York’s Green CHIPS program as legislation that provided the incentives for Micron to choose Central New York for a semiconductor manufacturing facility. 

Without the CHIPS and Science Act, Micron would have decided to build its megafab overseas, the office of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) contended in its Oct. 4 announcement. President Joseph Biden signed the bill on Aug. 9.

The law created an investment tax credit for semiconductor-manufacturing facilities and a “first-of-its-kind” $52 billion in federal incentives to spur American semiconductor research, development, manufacturing, and workforce training to “bring these good-paying jobs back from overseas, strengthen national security, and reestablish America’s technological leadership,” Schumer’s office said.

The bill requires recipients of these incentives to make “significant” worker and community investments that support “equitable economic growth.” 

Similarly, under the performance-based incentives through New York State’s Green CHIPS program, the project is estimated to result in a total benefit-cost ratio of about 20:1, meaning that Micron will directly spend $20 on capital investment, research and development, and salaries and wages for every $1 of support provided by New York State, per Schumer’s office.

“With the CHIPS and Science bill I wrote and championed as the fuse, Micron’s $100 billion investment in Upstate New York will fundamentally transform the region into a global hub for manufacturing and bring tens of thousands of good-paying high-tech and construction jobs to Central New York,” Schumer said. “[The] announcement is the result of my long fight to bring manufacturing back to Upstate New York. The bottom line is that without the CHIPS and Science legislation, Micron would have decided to build its megafab overseas. This investment leaves no question that the future of microchip manufacturing will remain not just in this country, but in Syracuse specifically, and that our future will be built in Upstate New York, with Central New York as a global center of the chip industry.”

To attract this “transformational,” multibillion-dollar investment to New York, Empire State Development (ESD) has offered a package of performance-based incentives of up to $5.5 billion in Green CHIPS Excelsior tax credits over two phases over 20 years. These targeted incentives are directly tied to Micron creating 9,000 new jobs, investing $100 billion, and meeting the Green CHIPS community-benefits package and sustainability standards. 

The agreement also includes a commitment by New York State to invest $200 million for necessary road and other infrastructure improvements surrounding the campus, and $100 million in funding for community benefits as part of the $500 million Green CHIPS Community Fund. 

In addition, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) board of trustees will review a power allocation award from NYPA’s low-cost ReCharge NY power program at a future public meeting. 

In addition, the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency and Micron will enter into a 49-year PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement and abatement of state and local sales tax on construction expenses. The Onondaga County Department of Water and Environment Protection and the Onondaga County Water Authority will make necessary water and wastewater-infrastructure improvements over the project lifecycle to support the project and surrounding community.

“Micron decided on New York State because of the tireless work at every level of government to make our state a place where companies such as Micron want to locate and grow,” Hope Knight, president, CEO and commissioner of Empire State Development, said. “I want to thank Governor Hochul for her leadership, especially on the passage of the State’s Green CHIPS program, and for her advocacy for the passage of the federal CHIPS and Science Act. For decades, we have been slowly regaining ground in the transition from traditional manufacturing to advanced manufacturing, and Micron’s decision to locate in the Central New York Region is the momentum we need to succeed.”

About Micron Technology

Micron Technology — a Boise, Idaho–based memory and storage manufacturer and the fourth-largest producer of semiconductors in the world — will invest up to $100 billion over the next 20-plus years to construct the project. The first phase investment of $20 billion is planned by the end of this decade, creating nearly 50,000 jobs statewide — 9,000 new high-paying Micron jobs with an average annual salary of over $100,000 and over 40,000 community jobs — and create thousands and thousands of prevailing-wage construction jobs. 

When complete, the complex will include the nation’s largest clean-room space at about 2.4 million square feet, the size of nearly 40 football fields.

“This historic announcement is a major win for Micron, for New York, and the United States. I am grateful for President Biden and his Administration for making the CHIPS and Science Act a priority, to Leader Schumer and a bipartisan coalition in Congress for passing the legislation, and to Governor Hochul and County Executive McMahon for their leadership and partnership,” Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said. “The combined efforts at the federal, state, and local level paved the way for Micron to realize the largest private investment ever made in New York state history.”