Ohio's two U.S. Senators say that the Intel announcement to build two semiconductor factories outside of Columbus is big for the state and the nation.
The announcement that was made in January will create 3,000 new manufacturing jobs and thousands more construction jobs. Intel says that the two factories are just the beginning, with the potential of having eight factories at that site. Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown were on hand for the announcement and say that this is a good step toward shoring up the supply chain and putting American workers first.
“Right now, America makes about 12% of the semiconductors in the world, even though we started the industry, we developed the chip,” says Sen. Rob Portman. “More and more of this is going overseas and it’s from unreliable places, including right now Taiwan, South Korea, and China and we got to bring some of that back. That is what this will be is reshoring some production of the semiconductors we need.”
Brown says there are two bills currently before Congress that would help bolster the semiconductor production in Ohio and nationwide.
“Doing something about it, in part, is passing the CHIPS Act,” says Sen. Sherrod Brown. “Making sure that we produce more computer chips and semiconductors so that we can rebuild the supply chain. And passing the Innovation and Competitive Act, which will finally put America and government on the side of American workers. That is beginning to bring some of these manufacturing jobs back.”
Intel is looking to start production at their central Ohio location in 2025.
