Year in Review: Kelly Delivers on Historic Chips Investments to Create Arizona Microchip Jobs and Get Arizonans the Skills to Work Them

This year, Arizonans saw the direct benefits of the Chips and Science Actnegotiated by Arizona Senator Mark Kelly as grants were awarded to companies expanding in Arizona that will create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, many of which don’t require a four year degree, and to Arizona community colleges and universities that will prepare Arizonans to start careers in the industry. In 2022, knowing the impact it would have in the Grand Canyon state, Kelly secured the law’s passage and has continued working with the Biden administration and stakeholders to make this year’s historic investments in Arizona’s semiconductor industry a reality. 

Intel, TSMC, and Amkor Expand Their Footprint in Arizona 

Thanks to Kelly’s work, in November the Department of Commerce reached final agreements with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Intel to expand their footprint in the state. TSMC received $6.6 billion in grants and approximately $5 billion in loans to support the construction of TSMC’s three manufacturing facilities in Phoenix. Intel—which has four microchip plants in the state and two additional plants under construction in Chandler—received a $7.8 billion award to support the company’s U.S. investment of nearly $90 billion by the end of the decade. These investments followed preliminary agreements announced earlier in the year.  

The construction of TSMC’s third fab brings the company’s total capital expenditure for its Phoenix sites to over $65 billion, marking the largest foreign direct investment in Arizona’s history. The three fabs are expected to create approximately 6,000 good-paying manufacturing jobs and generate more than 20,000 construction jobs. For its part, Intel’s expansion to produce the company’s most advanced process technologies will create nearly 3,000 high-paying manufacturing jobs and 6,000 construction jobs. 

In addition to Intel and TSMC, this year the Department of Commerce announced that Amkor Technology Inc. would receive $400 million to expand its operations in Arizona. Amkor, the world’s largest U.S. headquartered chip packaging and test provider, had announced a $2 billion investment to build a state-of-the-art semiconductor packaging facility in Peoria, Arizona, creating 2,000 jobs. 

Investments in Arizona Universities and Community Colleges 

In October, the Department of Commerce announced that the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) will receive $1.7 million in funding to expand training programs and get more Arizonans the skills they need to start microchip manufacturing jobs. 

Kelly’s Chips and Science Act also supported the work of Arizona State University (ASU) in developing cutting-edge technologies. In January, the Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine (SSIE), led by ASU, was named one of 10 inaugural National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines—bringing an investment of $15 million over the next two years. The SSIE will work to address the threat climate change and water scarcity pose to economic and population growth in the Southwest. Kelly and other Arizona delegation members had sent a letter of support for ASU’s application last year.    In November, the Department of Commerce announced they would award $100 million to ASU to support SHIELD USA (Substrate-based Heterogeneous Integration Enabling Leadership Demonstration for the USA), an ASU-led initiative to drive innovation in the domestic microchip packaging ecosystem, expand capacity for domestic advanced packaging, and help regain U.S. leadership in microelectronics while strengthening national security. In July, Kelly and other members of the Arizona delegation had sent a letter to Secretary Gina Raimondo in support of the SHIELD USA proposal.    

Earlier in the year, Kelly visited ASU to tour a microelectronics NanoFab and see the success of the Microelectronics Commons—a program Kelly secured in the Chips and Science Act. In September 2023, the Southwest Advanced Prototyping Hub, led by ASU, was selected to be funded through the program, marking the first official allocation of funding through the law.  

Building Chips in America Act Becomes Law 

After leading the successful passage of the Chips and Science Act, Kelly set out to maximize the impact of the law by introducing his bipartisan Building Chips in America Act. In October, the bill was signed into law, effectively preventing unnecessary delays in the construction of microchip manufacturing facilities in Arizona and across the country.