CHANDLER, Ariz. — President Joe Biden is celebrating an agreement to provide Intel with up to $8.5 billion in direct funding and $11 billion in loans for computer chip plants in Ohio and three other states.
The Democratic president talked up the investment Wednesday in the political battleground of Arizona, calling it a way of “bringing the future back to America.”
The funding will establish two advanced plants in New Albany, as well as Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon.
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat up for reelection this year, stressed that the state would become “a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing” as Intel would be generating thousands of jobs.
Ohio has voted for Trump in the past two presidential elections, and Brown in November will face Republican Bernie Moreno, a Trump-backed businessman from Cleveland.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says the deal would put the United States in a position to produce 20% of the world’s most advanced chips by 2030 — up from the current level of zero.
According to a report issued by Gov. Mike DeWine and the tech company last week, Intel projects both factories to be completed in 2026 or 2027 and operational by 2028.
The project is the largest single private sector company investment in Ohio’s history and is expected to create 3,000 direct jobs and more than 20,000 secondary jobs across the state.