Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the signing of four separate non-binding preliminary memoranda of terms (PMT) under the CHIPS and Science Act to provide up to $105 million in proposed direct funding. One of the four companies receiving funding includes Easton, Pennsylvania-based Coherent—a global leader in materials and lasers for industrial, communications, electronics, and instrumentation markets—which will receive up to $79 million in proposed direct funding. The proposed investment in Coherent would support the expansion of its existing manufacturing facility in Easton, Pennsylvania, and would create approximately 360 jobs.
“The expansion of Coherent is a fabulous continuation of the Lehigh Valley’s role as the original Silicon Valley,” said Don Cunningham, president and CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation. “Building from the legacy of Bell Labs and Western Electric producing the first transistors here, the Lehigh Valley’s semiconductor and tech sectors continue to grow as Coherent expands its production of semiconductor chips here. The CHIPS Act has helped to invigorate and grow the tech sector in a region that’s home to Intel, Broadcom, Infinera, Coherent, and about 30 other hardware technology companies.”
Here is more about the project:
- The Department of Commerce’s proposed investment of up to $79 million would support the expansion of Coherent’s existing manufacturing facility in Easton, Pennsylvania, to increase the production capacity of 150mm and 200mm silicon carbide (SiC) substrates. The proposed CHIPS investment would also support the expansion of the facility’s SiC epitaxial wafer manufacturing capacity, the back end of line processing, electronic performance, and reliability testing capabilities. SiC substrates are an important bandgap material with end uses in energy and military applications. CHIPS for America’s proposed investment to expand Coherent’s production capacity in Easton could increase its substrate capacity by over 750,000 substrates per year and more than double the output of epitaxial wafers annually. The proposed project is expected to create 320 manufacturing jobs and 40 construction jobs.
“We are deeply honored to partner with the U.S. Department of Commerce under the CHIPS and Science Act to support the growth of critical silicon carbide infrastructure here in the U.S.,” said Rob Beard, chief legal and global affairs officer for Coherent. “This proposed investment reflects a shared commitment to strengthening domestic manufacturing, advancing cutting-edge technologies, and creating high-quality jobs in Pennsylvania. By expanding our production capabilities for silicon carbide substrates and epitaxial wafers, Coherent is poised to drive innovation and meet the growing demand for materials that power energy and advanced applications.”
Coherent has indicated they plan to claim the Department of the Treasury’s Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (CHIPS ITC), which is 25% of qualified capital expenditures.
Easton is located in the Lehigh Valley region of PA, home to several semiconductor companies in addition to Coherent (Broadcom, Cisco, Infinera, iDEAL Semiconductor, Intel, and more), which employ 1,500. The semiconductor industry started in Lehigh Valley; long before Silicon Valley, the first transistors were made at Western Electric’s Allentown Works starting in the early 1950s, making the region a global center for semiconductor development for over 50 years.
The Lehigh Valley is a prime example of economic resilience, with its GDP growing from $34 billion to over $55 billion in the past decade. This increase is primarily driven by the region’s $9 billion manufacturing sector, representing 16% of the local economy. Over the last four years, federal investment has surged, fueling this growth. Most recently, the Biden-Harris administration announced a preliminary $93M investment in chipmaker Infinera to bolster semiconductor manufacturing in the region.
