President Joe Biden on Friday highlighted a rare bipartisan down payment to boost U.S. manufacturing as he attended the groundbreaking of a $20 billion Intel computer chip facility in Ohio.
Biden traveled to suburban Columbus to take a victory lap at the plant being constructed by Intel Corp., which had delayed construction on the facility until Congress passed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act.
The new law provides $28 billion in incentives for domestic semiconductor production, $10 billion for new manufacturing of chips and $11 billion for research and development. It remains unclear how much, if any, federal funding the Intel plant will receive.
The funding follows similar efforts by Europe and China to accelerate chip production, which political leaders see as essential for competing economically and militarily.
"Folks, we need to make these chips right here in America to bring down everyday costs and create good jobs," Biden said. "Industry leaders are choosing us, the United States, because they see America's back and America's leading the way."
Touring the construction site, the president chatted with unionized workers in hard hats and noted his own blue-collar credentials by saying, "These are my people, where I come from."
In his State of the Union address in March, Biden envisioned the Intel plant as a model for a U.S. economy that revolves around technology, factories and the middle class.
The plant speaks to how the president is trying to revive American manufacturing nationwide.
Elsewhere in the U.S., chipmaker Micron Technology Inc. committed $15 billion for a factory in Idaho, Corning Inc. will build an optical fiber facility in Arizona, and First Solar Inc. plans to construct its fourth solar panel plant in the Southeast, all announcements that stemmed from Biden administration initiatives.
As part of Biden's visit Friday, Intel announced that it's providing $17.7 million to Ohio colleges and universities to develop education programs focused on the computer chips sector.
The shortage of semiconductors has plagued the U.S. and global economies. It cut into production of autos, household appliances and other goods in ways that fueled high inflation, while creating national security risks as the U.S. recognized its dependence on Asia for chip production.
The mix of high prices and long waits for basic goods has left many Americans feeling disgruntled about Biden's economic leadership, a political weakness that has lessened somewhat as gasoline prices have fallen and many voters have grown concerned about the loss of abortion protections after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Lawmakers crafted the semiconductor investments to favor areas outside the wealthier coastal cities where tech dominates. That means change will be coming to the Ohio city of New Albany, where the Intel plant is being constructed, as well as nearby Johnstown.
Don Harvey, a sporting goods store owner and longtime Johnstown resident, likes the idea of a company making things again in the United States, and also providing potentially high-paying jobs for his five grandchildren down the road. Intel has said pay will average $135,000 for its 3,000 Ohio workers.
"What an opportunity in my eyes for Ohio and the United States as a whole," said the 63-year-old Harvey.
Elyse Priest lives in a subdivision just up the road from the plant, and received a firsthand taste of the construction recently as she watched a huge cloud of dust roll up from the 1,000-acre site currently being leveled. Priest, 38, also knows the road-widening and added traffic will affect her commute to downtown Columbus where she works as a legal assistant.
"I'm concerned about losing the small-town feel I've always had and loved about Johnstown," Priest said. "But I know it's going to be a greater good for the whole state."