New York poised for $100B investment from Micron

New York leaders celebrated a major event Tuesday morning as Micron Technology announced it would invest upward of $100 billion to build a semiconductor plant in the Syracuse area, billed as the largest private investment made in the Empire State.

Micron, the fourth-largest semiconductor maker, plans that investment over 20 years, with $20 billion committed by the end of the decade. The company’s “megafab” will contain 2.4 million square feet of clean room space to make the high-tech memory chips essential for cars, cellphones and other everyday items.

The company expects to employ 9,000 workers, who will earn an average annual salary of more than $100,000. According to an economic impact study performed by Regional Economic Models, Inc., the development is also expected to create more than 40,000 spin-off jobs over the first 31 years the plant is operational. That does not include the thousands of construction jobs needed to build the plant at the White Pine Business Park.

Elected officials and company executives cited the passage of the CHIPS Act Congress passed earlier this year for helping New York land the massive project. That bill included more than $50 billion in federal incentives to get companies like Micron to produce semiconductors in the U.S.

“The bottom line is that without the CHIPS and Science legislation, Micron would have decided to build its megafab overseas,” U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “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.”

More than 75 companies in the semiconductor industry have facilities in New York and employ nearly 35,000 residents. The state is also home to a research and development facility in Albany that Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul hope will land the National Semiconductor Technology Center, which the CHIPS Act created.

Micron also stands to benefit from New York’s Green CHIPS incentive program, which is offering up to $5.5 billion in tax credits over two phases. The state is also pledging to invest up to $200 million in infrastructure improvements, including roadwork, around the plant.

The company will also receive $25 million in grants and other incentives from Onondaga County. The county’s industrial development agency also reached a 49-year deal that allows Micron to make payments instead of taxes and get reductions on state and local sales taxes paid toward construction costs.

“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,” Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said. “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.”