VOICES: Dayton region to Congress: Pass CHIPS Act funding

Earlier this month, 160 business and civic leaders from the Dayton, Ohio, region came to Washington, D.C., for our annual Fly-In, a series of speakers and educational forums. One topic that kept coming up was federal support for U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. That’s a critical national issue. Semiconductors are essential to almost all modern electronics and serve as the “brains” of everything from automobiles to medical devices. They are also important to national security because they can be found in most weapons systems that protect our country. However, demand for semiconductors is outstripping supply, leading to shortages and overreliance on foreign manufacturers.

For our community, that’s a local economic issue as well. Earlier this year, the Intel Corporation announced plans to invest more than $20 billion in the construction of two new state-of-the-art semiconductor factories on a 1,000-acre site in Licking County, outside of Columbus. The initial phase of the project is expected to create 3,000 Intel jobs and support tens of thousands of jobs among suppliers and partners. It is largest single private-sector investment in Ohio history.

But that’s just the beginning. Intel has suggested that if the United States provided financial subsidies to the semiconductor industry, the company might increase its investment five-fold to $100 billion in Ohio and build additional factories on the Licking County site. That kind of federal support isn’t just a dream, but is already close to reality.

In 2021, Congress created programs to strengthen the U.S. semiconductor industry called Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America — commonly referred to as the CHIPS Act. Last June, the Senate passed overwhelmingly with strong bipartisan support another measure that would provide $52 billion in funding for those programs. The House of Representatives passed its version of the bill in February. Both Ohio Senators, Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, as well as Rep. Steve Chabot from Cincinnati, were named members of the conference committee to iron out the differences between the two bills, giving Ohio significant influence on the outcome of this legislation.

Another measure working its way through Congress is the Facilitating American-Built Semiconductors (FABS) Act, that would establish an investment tax credit to incentivize semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research in the United States.

Most of the members of the Ohio Congressional delegation, Democrats and Republicans, are on record supporting funding for the CHIPS Act — as is the President and a majority of both the House and Senate. But it appears to be caught up in controversy that could slow the progress of the legislation.

Though the new Intel facility will be about 90 miles from Dayton, we expect major economic spinoffs from the initial investment in our community. We expect that the Dayton region will be home to a significant number of jobs in the semiconductor supply chain that supports the Ohio Intel facilities, and many more jobs if Intel increases its investment.

This is more than jobs in Ohio. The European Union is considering a $49 billion version of the CHIPS Act. Asian countries which heavily subsidize their semiconductor industries will step up their game. The United States cannot afford to dawdle and let the rest of the world claim the semiconductor jobs of the future—jobs that should be in Ohio.

During the Washington Fly-In, some Dayton region community leaders asked why it is so difficult to enact this legislation when it so clearly benefits the State of Ohio and the nation and it has so much support within Congress. If the answer to that question is not clear, the message from our group is. The Dayton region expects Congress and the members of the Ohio Congressional delegation to set aside ideology, partisanship, and posturing: work together and pass CHIPS Act funding.

Jeff Hoagland is the President and CEO of the Dayton Development Coalition. Chris Kershner is the President and CEO of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce. Michael McDorman is the President and CEO of the Greater Springfield Partnership.