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Following Micron Technology’s historic $100 billion investment in central New York, 21 higher education institutions and local stakeholders in the northeastern U.S. will form the Northeast University Semiconductor Network to facilitate workforce training for the semiconductor industry.

In a Monday press conference held at Syracuse University’s National Veterans Resource Center, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the new network and shared progress on bringing Micron to central New York, alongside officials including National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan, Micron executive Manish Bhatia and leaders of colleges and universities across New York state.

The new public-private partnership aims to involve universities, public institutions and local companies in efforts to train the manufacturing workforce’s new generation to join the semiconductor industry, Schumer said.

“This partnership is going to bring together 20+ universities with strong undergraduate and graduate programs in engineering and STEM, to train the workers to build the future of technology here in America, in places like upstate New York,” Schumer said.

Participating higher education institutions include SU, Cornell University, Clarkson University, New York University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology and SUNY and CUNY colleges, among other colleges and universities. New York state companies like Empire State Development and CenterState CEO will also work to facilitate workforce training through the network.

Under the new partnership, semiconductor industry employers including Micron will lay out the number and types of jobs in demand. Universities, community colleges and industry partners can then submit for federal funding through the National Science Foundation to train students to fill those jobs, Schumer said during the press conference.

The CHIPS and Science Act, which Schumer co-authored and which went into effect in August 2022, specifically designated $200 billion to the NSF for workforce training in the semiconductor industry. The NSF also included an over-$11 billion increase in its budget proposal for fiscal year 2024, an increase of 18.6% from FY 2023.

“We’re not just training workers for a job that won’t exist,” Schumer said. “This program will give the workers the skills they need to fill up those 50,000 good paying jobs that are on the horizon.”

Micron, the fourth largest producer of semiconductors in the world, announced in October 2022 that it would invest up to $100 billion to build the new 1,400-acre semiconductor manufacturing site around 15 minutes north of Syracuse in Clay, New York after a years-long campaign by state and local officials to convince Micron to choose central New York for the plant. Construction for the site will begin in 2024, the company announced in February.

The company recently made a joint investment with the NSF of $10 million to develop semiconductor manufacturing curriculum and new methodologies for workforce training, said Bhatia, who serves as Micron’s executive vice president of global operations.

“(This network) will help drive fundamental change in emerging research that’s needed for semiconductor development,” Bhatia said at Monday’s press conference. “The partnership is essential to supporting those who want to have a career in the semiconductor industry.”

Panchanathan praised Schumer and the partner institutions’ efforts in creating the new network. To ensure the future workforce for the U.S. semiconductor industry, it is essential that different institutions come together, he said.

“We need to make sure to unleash every bit of talent across our broad socioeconomic demographic of our nation,” Panchanathan said. “I can tell you there is no nation that can outcompete our nation when we unleash all of the talent and ideas of our nation.”

Local, state and federal officials, including President Joe Biden, have welcomed and praised Micron’s investment in central New York. In his remarks at the press conference, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon called the announcement “historic,” and emphasized the importance of workforce, supply chain and community-based planning in the process.

Schumer also reinforced the positive impact of Micron’s investment in central New York. The new partnership ensures the future for the nation’s semiconductor industry, as well as better lives for workers of all ages and backgrounds for decades to come, he said.

“Today is the start of us building the workforce of the future,” Schumer said. “A group of all ages, all backgrounds from across New York state that is going to bring manufacturing back to upstate New York and to America.”

Published on April 10, 2023 at 10:23 pm

Contact Francis: btang05@syr.edu | @francis_towne