The U.S. Department of Commerce announced significant interest in its funding opportunity for small supply chain projects. This funding opportunity, released in September 2023, requested applications for projects with capital investment below $300 million involving the construction, expansion, or modernization of commercial facilities in the United States for semiconductor materials and equipment. As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act includes incentives to strengthen supply chains, support smaller projects and businesses, and create good-paying jobs in local communities across the country.
Since the opening of the Concept Plan phase of the application process in December 2023, the Department received a total of 165 concept plans for projects across 30 states, with Arizona, Texas, and California being the largest states represented. Among those concept plans submitted, 41 projects came from 15 consortia, in line with the Department’s recommendation to apply in groups that would leverage existing connections between companies, state and local governments, and other regional organizations to build regional semiconductor clusters. The Concept Plans represent over $13 billion in capital investment, with an average project cost of $82 million. They span the breadth of the semiconductor industry, from materials needed for advanced production to equipment and subcomponents.
The Department expects to invite a subset of applicants to the Full Application phase later this Spring and plans to award up to $500 million in total CHIPS Incentives to approved projects. These projects will play a vital role in producing the equipment, chemicals, gases, and other materials necessary for semiconductor production in the United States, supporting our domestic manufacturing ecosystem, and creating jobs and opportunities in communities across the country.
Earlier this month, the Department announced its fourth preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) with Intel Corporation. The proposed funding in this PMT comes from the Commercial Fabrication Facilities NOFO announced in February 2023.