Photo: Intel Corporation
( Columbus, Ohio ) - Governor Mike DeWine called it "a great day in Ohio history" when he announced in January that Intel was investing $20 billion to build a semiconductor manufacturing plant in Licking County. It was part of a jobs development deal that had Ohio offering $2 billion in tax breaks and incentives, and it had the potential to grow into a $100 billion dollar investment by Intel over time.
At the time, however, Intel said that a large part of its Ohio development plans were based on the CHIPS Act passing in Washington. The CHIPS Act is a $52 billion dollar incentive package to subsidize semiconductor (microchip) manufacturing across the United States. That measure has stalled among lawmakers in Congress. On Thursday, Intel announced it is delaying the scheduled ceremonial groundbreaking of that Ohio plant. Intel spokesperson Linda Qian says "unfortunately, CHIPS Act funding has moved more slowly than we expected and we still don't know when it will get done."
To be clear, the massive manufacturing development hasn't been called off, but the uncertainty around the legislation is delaying when work on the project will begin.