State and federal funding ease challenges.
Despite headwinds faced by Intel, its flagship chipmaker, and the failure to land an $825 million National Semiconductor Technology Center, Oregon is anything but shrinking from its commitment to the nationwide project to secure domestic sourcing of microchips.
Centered around the “Silicon Forest” in the Portland region, Oregon already does more than its share. In addition to hosting Intel’s biggest worldwide manufacturing hub, Oregon supplies an estimated 15% of the nation’s semiconductor workforce, and that includes thousands of PhDs.
In October, the state’s economic development agency announced awards totaling more than $12 million to six semiconductor companies under the $240 million Oregon CHIPS Act, established in 2023 to leverage the billions of dollars in federal funding dedicated to achieving the outgoing Biden Administration’s semiconductor manufacturing goals. Half of the new recipients are headquartered in Japan or have parent companies there.
“This program is helping drive unprecedented levels of private investment and job creation, with an estimated $1.9 billion in these six projects alone,” said Sophorn Cheang, director of Business Oregon, “in addition to bringing billions in federal CHIPS Act funding to our state.”
Intel Battles Challenges
In addition to the thousands of workers Intel employs directly, its total economic footprint includes more than 105,000 indirect jobs, $10 billion in annual labor income and $19.3 billion in annual GDP, according to company data.
Oregon’s statewide CHIPS Act, signed into law during the 2023 legislative session, awarded Intel $115 million under the initial round of funding announced in early 2024 to support the company’s ongoing expansion and modernization of its Hillsboro campus, including upgrades to its state-of-the-art D1X research facility. The investments, Intel says, could reach $40 billion.
Among its other provisions, the Oregon CHIPS Act granted special powers to Gov. Tina Kotek to circumvent the state’s land use law to expand the urban growth boundary, which defines where development can occur. In mid-September, Kotek signaled plans to expand the Hillsboro boundary by 373 acres north of the city — pristine farmland, opponents said — for the purpose of luring the coveted CHIPS for America Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Accelerator. The pitch was anchored by the presence of Intel’s $400 million new lithography tool.
In late October, the U.S. Commerce Department announced that the Center would go to Albany, New York. But in Oregon, even as speculation about property consolidation abounds, the latest ominous signs have been blunted by the late November announcement of a $7.86 billion federal CHIPS and Science Act Award, almost $2 billion of which is slated for Intel’s Oregon operations.
