Micron Will Invest an Unprecedented $100 Billion Over the Next 20-Plus Years to Transform Central New York Into a Global, Leading-Edge Semiconductor Manufacturing Hub
Governor Kathy Hochul, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon, and Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra today announced one of the largest economic development projects in U.S. history — a transformational public-private partnership with Micron Technology to build a cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing campus in Onondaga County, New York.
Micron, a U.S.-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, with the first phase investment of $20 billion 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 approximately 2.4 million square feet, the size of nearly 40 football fields.
This is another step for Micron to establish leading-edge memory manufacturing in the U.S. to meet the demand of consumer, industrial, and business products such as automotive and mobile, fueled by the adoption of artificial intelligence and 5G and make the United States more globally competitive. Modern manufacturing jobs at Micron will include opportunities for New Yorkers of varying educational and professional backgrounds from Central New York and beyond. This historic investment adds to New York's already robust semiconductor industry. New York is currently home to 76 semiconductor companies that employ over 34,000 New Yorkers, including global industry leaders like GlobalFoundries, Wolfspeed, onsemi, and IBM. New York is also home to the world-renowned Albany Nanotech Complex, which is a multibillion-dollar public-private partnership, comprising the most advanced, publicly owned, 300-millimeter semiconductor research and development facility and bringing together premier universities and leading industry players to drive cutting-edge chip development.
Central New York saw major American manufacturers and thousands of good jobs disappear when Agway Inc., Anaren Microwave, Carrier, Crucible, General Electric, Miller Brewing and General Motors closed their doors. Micron is bringing future-ready manufacturing back to Central New York by building a state-of-the-art memory chip manufacturing campus on 1,400 acres in the White Pine Commerce Park in the Town of Clay, north of Syracuse, creating economic opportunities for generations to come and returning good manufacturing jobs to Upstate New York. Micron will become one of the largest employers in the region, paying nearly double the average wage of Central New York.
Consistent with New York State's nation-leading Green CHIPS Act, Micron will draw its electricity from 100 percent renewable sources and make far reaching sustainability commitments. Micron will also implement a half-billion-dollar community investment framework to ensure that the project benefits the people and communities of Central New York. Governor Kathy Hochul said,
"Micron's $100 billion investment in New York marks the start of something transformative in scale and possibility for our state's economic future. I promised that we would jumpstart the economy by being the most business-friendly and worker-friendly state in the nation, and thanks to our State Green CHIPS legislation, the federal CHIPS and Science Act, and extraordinary partnerships with business, labor, and local and federal leaders, this project will do exactly that. Together, we are leveraging this investment — the largest private-sector investment in state history — to secure our economic future, solidify New York's standing as a global manufacturing hub, and usher the state into another Industrial Revolution."
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer said, "After years of work, it's official —Micron is coming to Central New York! 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. This project is a dramatic turning point for a region that has faced decades of lost manufacturing jobs, and, in combination with New York's already robust microchip industry from the Hudson Valley, Albany, and the Mohawk Valley to Binghamton, Rochester, and Buffalo, it will put Upstate New York on the map in a way we haven't seen in generations. This is our Erie Canal moment. Just as the original Erie Canal did centuries ago, this 21st Century Erie Canal will flow through the heart of Central New York and redefine Upstate New York's place in the global economy for generations to come. Micron's investment will make New York's semiconductor corridor into a major engine powering our economy and will supply 'Made in New York' microchips to everything from electric vehicles, 5G, and defense technology to personal computers and smartphones. Today's 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 megafaboverseas. 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."
Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said, "Today's announcement validates what we have known all along — White Pine Business Park is the premier site in the Country for attracting an investment in the semiconductor industry, and we are thrilled to welcome Micron to our community. This is our generation's Erie Canal moment, and my administration is committed to meeting this pivotal and exciting moment in time. We will make sure that every neighborhood in every corner of the County feels part of this historic and transformational project. As important, this is a project that many people felt we weren't worthy of, but at the end of the day the greatest memory technology company in the world chose Onondaga County. Micron is going to invest one-hundred billion dollars to not only solve global demand challenges but to meet national security demands for this country. The decision by Micron to invest in Central New York and solve these problems not only supports our greater strategy for growing our community but validates our undeniable progress. I look forward to a long and successful partnership."
Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said, "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. 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. We are thrilled to make this significant investment in New York, making the Empire State the location of the biggest leading-edge memory site in the U.S. We chose this location for many reasons, but most importantly — Central New York offers a rich pool of diverse talent, including communities that traditionally have been underrepresented in technology jobs. This historic leading-edge memory megafab will deliver benefits beyond the semiconductor industry by strengthening U.S. technology leadership, as well as economic and national security, driving American innovation and competitiveness for decades to come."
Micron will develop a $100 billion semiconductor manufacturing complex over the next 20-plus years in multiple phases, with the first phase investment of $20 billion to planned by the end of this decade. Each phase is expected to include the construction and equipping of four memory fabs. Construction is expected to be pursuant to a project labor agreement, and workers will be paid, at a minimum, federal prevailing wage rates. Micron is also planning to spend 30 percent of its construction budget on work performed by Sociallyand Economically Disadvantaged Individuals, New York State-certified Minority and Women Business Enterprises, and Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses.
This unprecedented investment is made possible through Schumer's historic,bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act that he led to passage earlier this year. Without this legislation, Micron would have decided to build its megafaboverseas. The bill 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. 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 approximately 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.
An economic impact study by Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI) estimates that the Micron project will generate transformative economic growth for Central New York and New York State. Over the course of the first 31 years of operations, REMI estimates that the project will:
Create, on average, nearly 50,000 jobs in New York State per year, including 9,000 jobs directly with the company.
Grow New York State's economy significantly, generating an additional $16.7 billion in real (inflation adjusted) economic output, on average per year and $9.6 billion in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on average.
Provide an estimated annual average of $5.4 billion in real disposable personal income to New York residents.
Generate an average annual increase of $556 million in state government revenue, totaling $17.2 billion over the first 31 years of the project, and an average annual increase of $826.1 million in revenue to local governments, totaling $25.6 billion over the same timeframe.
Be one of the largest construction projects in North America, with construction spending of $31 billion and 5,600 related construction jobs on average at federal prevailing wage, for the initial 20 years.
For additional details and language translations see the announcement on governor.ny.gov