ECONOMIC DRIVER
Schumer touts Albany for NSTC epicenter following passage of CHIPS and Science bill
ALBANY, N.Y. » U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer visited the Albany Nanotech Complex Monday to celebrate the bipartisan CHIPS and Science bill that has passed through Congress and is expected to be signed by President Joe Biden in the coming days, providing new investment in the nation’s semiconductor industry and in R&D and innovation that can support thousands of local jobs.
The bill also will create America’s first National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC). Schumer, D-NY, noted the importance of the bill in ramping up domestic production of chips to help lower the cost of items such as automobiles, appliances, and phones, as well as aiding in developing military equipment.
A key component in the bill is ensuring American companies buy those
chips made for their products in America too.
“The companies lobbied for it. When some of our Republican friends wouldn’t do it, we had the heads of all the major companies on the phone calling up Senators. The companies wanna be here in America but if Europe or China’s offering them huge incentives and we say just you’re on your own, they’re gonna go there but they wanna be here, all things being equal they wanna be here and this bill says they will stay here,” Schumer remarked.
Schumer also kept his focus on Albany as the epicenter of the NSTC when crafting the bill.
“When I wrote the language in the bill for the National Semiconductor Technical Center, I said I had a sixletter word in mind when I wrote it, “AL-B-A-N-Y,” we’re gonna get it and it’s gonna be a game-changer,” Schumer exclaimed.
Schumer also detailed how the bill will be an economic driver for the Capital Region, which not only houses the Albany Nanotech Complex but GlobalFoundries in Malta as well.
“The passage of the CHIPS bill is an amazing one-two punch for the Capital Region, for jobs, and ensuring that the region’s future will be even greater than its past. That’s because this bill is so important. The bill is gonna build more chip fabs here in the U.S. and upstate New York is well-situated to become the leader in the new chip fabs and I’m working hard to do that. The bill also creates a national semiconductor tech R&D center. It will be the leader in the world. I’m here to say I will use my clout as majority leader to make sure it comes here to Albany and to this facility right here,” Schumer said.
“There’s also the NSTC, the National Semiconductor Technology Cen
ter. For the United States to remain number one in the world, we have to be at the front of the line when it comes to research. The federal government has determined there should be one national center to lead that research. Some individual companies want it but it shouldn’t be at an individual company because they’ll use the research for themselves. The beauty of the center here, it combines a variety of companies, a variety of universities, and a variety of governmental agencies all together. So, the great research done here will spread,” Schumer noted.
“It is incredible, Albany, the Capital Region, could become the world center of research in new chips and that is gonna mean not only 1,000 more jobs here but it’s going to mean that companies are gonna want to locate here. We’re trying to get chip fabs to locate upstate. One of the reasons they wanna come here is this center right here,” Schumer added.