Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that the Biden-Harris administration provided proposed direct funding of $325 million to Michigan-based manufacturer Hemlock Semiconductor (HSC) to build a new facility supporting 180 permanent, advanced manufacturing jobs and over a thousand good-paying construction jobs.
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The proposed direct funding was made under the Biden-Harris administration’s bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which is focused on bringing vital supply chains and good-paying, cutting-edge jobs home to America.
Hemlock Semiconductor is one of the largest producers of hyper-pure polysilicon, a critical material for electronics and solar panels, and is the only one headquartered in America.
In a growing global economy, HSC has established Michigan as a leader at the forefront of innovation and technology, with nearly every electronic device in the world containing HSC polysilicon.
The proposed production facility will increase HSC’s manufacturing capacity to support the semiconductor supply chain right in Michigan.
The proposed funding represents the largest CHIPS investment in Michigan to date, and the Whitmer-Gilchrist administration is committed to keep bringing supply chains home to combat the negative consequences of offshoring chip manufacturing.
While America invented the semiconductor, it now make up only 12% of the world’s supply of chips.
Americans saw the effects of offshoring firsthand with parking lots full of nearly finished Michigan-made cars and trucks, awaiting semiconductor chips from Asia.
This national chip shortage also increased the costs of electronics and appliances, resulting in delays for families and small businesses across the states. ■
A trailing cold front in connection with a low pressure system currently moving east across the Great Lakes toward New England will bring a chance of rain into the eastern U.S. on this first day of November following an exceptionally dry October for this part of the country.