Biden champions 'workforce of the future' at new Ohio Intel semiconductor plant
Biden says U.S. needs to increase semiconductor production as a matter of national security
President Biden headed to a staunchly conservative section of Ohio Friday to champion the "workforce of the future" during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Intel semiconductor plant in Licking County.
The plant is a part of Biden’s plan to renew semiconductor production in the U.S. following inflation spikes and soaring vehicle costs amid chip shortages during the pandemic.
"Intel is going to build a workforce of the future right here in Ohio," Biden said. "Intel committed $50 million to partner with community colleges and universities like Ohio State University, including Central State University – the only historically black university in Ohio – to build a pipeline for students in the semiconductor industry."
President Biden departs the White House Sept. 9, 2022, before traveling to Ohio to participate in a groundbreaking ceremony at a new Intel semiconductor manufacturing factory. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Patrick Gelsinger, Intel’s CEO, said the new plant would create jobs on every level of the spectrum, from blue-collar workers to those with advanced Ph.D.s.
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"It's time to bury the label ‘Rust Belt’ and call it, as Pat said, the silicon heartland," Biden said, noting the bipartisan effort it took to pass the Chips and Science Act.
Biden said bringing chip manufacturing back to the U.S. was not only important for job creation and supply chain stability but was a matter of national security.
"Here's the deal. America invented this chip. It powered NASA's moon mission," he said, adding that 30 years ago the U.S. was responsible for more than 30% of global chip production.
"Companies moved jobs overseas, especially from the industrial Midwest, and, as a result, today we’re down to producing barely 10% of the world’s chips despite leading in chip research and design," he said.
President Biden signs into law the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington Aug. 9, 2022. Left to right: Founder and CEO of SparkCharge Joshua Aviv, Biden, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Secretary of Com (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Biden said China is pushing to become a leading producer in semiconductors and has lobbied U.S. companies to manufacture chips overseas.
"China's trying to move way ahead of manufacturing now," he warned.
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The president also pointed to the need for advanced semiconductor chips used in heavy artillery like the javelin missile, which the U.S. has supplied to Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s February invasion.
Employees work inside the clean room of U.S. semiconductor manufacturer SkyWater Technology Inc., where computer chips are made, in Bloomington, Minn., in April 2022 in this handout picture acquired by Reuters July 19, 2022. (REUTERS/File Photo / Reuters Photos)
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"Unfortunately, we produce zero of these advanced chips in America. Zero," Biden said. "We need semiconductors not only for those Javelin missiles but also for the weapon systems of the future that are only going to be more reliant on computer chips."
Biden championed the Chips and Science Act and said his administration will keep working with lawmakers to bring jobs back to the U.S. and prevent companies from finding loopholes that undermine the U.S. supply chain.