Federal and State funding award kicks off new growth in Minnesota’s semiconductor industry
13 Mayo 2024 - 5:05AM
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, along with Governor Tim
Walz and other officials, today announced that Polar Semiconductor
will invest $525 million to expand its Bloomington manufacturing
facility, leveraging $120 million in direct funding as part of the
U.S. CHIPS and Science Act and a $75 million investment from the
State of Minnesota.
A Biden administration priority, the bipartisan 2022 CHIPS Act
encourages semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. by investing $50
billion to bolster the nation’s production of advanced
semiconductors, used in many electronics from phones and computers
to electric vehicles and weapons systems.
“The federal government’s significant investment in Polar
Semiconductor is key to building the digital infrastructure in the
Greater MSP region to meet the needs of a diversity of industries,
including medical devices, consumer electronics, automobiles, data
centers, and space and military systems and fuel the nation’s next
economy,” said Peter Frosch, President and CEO of the GREATER MSP
Partnership.
First win for the Minnesota CHIPS Coalition
These landmark investments in Polar Semiconductor represent the
first major CHIPS investment for a member of the Minnesota CHIPS
Coalition, formed by the GREATER MSP Partnership in late 2022 after
the passing of the federal CHIPS and Science Act. Composed of more
than 70 organizations, including manufacturers, supply-chain
partners, education and training providers, labor organizations,
and state and local governments, the coalition is working together
to supercharge the state’s already robust semiconductor and
microelectronics industry.
Collaborations like the Minnesota CHIPS Coalition underscore the
strength, vitality and relevance of the 15-county MSP region. “Our
region is collaborating at scale to tackle some of our greatest
national and global challenges, including reigniting the nation’s
semiconductor industry while ensuring our economic security and
creating good jobs,” Frosch said. “Because of our exceptional
ability to work together, we are quickly becoming the
problem-solving capital of the next economy.”
Polar Semiconductor’s win validates the work of the Minnesota
CHIPS Coalition over the last 18 months, including the development
of a workforce partnership, an employer-led workforce group made up
over 20 chips employers, educational institutions, training
providers and governmental agencies working together to implement
solutions that will increase the semiconductor and microelectronics
talent pool in Minnesota. A childcare plan was developed through
the Minnesota CHIPS Coalition, recognizing the need for flexible
and affordable childcare. The plan establishes a public-private
collaboration to identify solutions to childcare, historically a
barrier to employment. The Polar expansion will create 160
jobs.
Bold vision for Minnesota’s semiconductor
industry The Minnesota CHIPS Coalition seeks to make
Minnesota a top-10 leader in the Midwest for semiconductor
learning, development and manufacturing, adding 10,000 more jobs to
an industry critical to national and economic security. Minnesota’s
semiconductor industry is poised for growth thanks to numerous
strategic strengths:
- Existing
ecosystem. Minnesota is one of just a few regions in the
U.S. that has an existing full semiconductor value chain, including
design, fabs/foundries, toolmakers, integrators, gas/chemical
producers, testing, packaging, contractors/suppliers. Minnesota’s
companies annually export over $1.2 billion in semiconductor
related components and import nearly $575 million in semiconductor
related components.
- It’s in our
DNA. Minnesota has a history of supercomputing and
semiconductors, beginning with Control Data Corporation/UNIVAC/Cray
Research in the 1960s. We’ve been at this a long time and have a
concentration of institutional expertise to build upon.
-
Resilience. Minnesota’s central U.S. location and
low natural disaster risk make us ideally situated to support
semiconductor manufacturing.
-
Talent. Minnesota already has one of the largest
and most concentrated talent bases for semiconductor production and
is a top-10 state for manufacturing of computer and peripheral
equipment, instruments, and semiconductor and other electronic
components. Our colleges and universities produce a strong base of
talent in materials science and engineering, chemical engineering,
and electrical engineering.
- Unique
industry synergies. Chips are fundamental to the operation
of medical devices and virtually every military system, including
communications and navigation systems. Minnesota’s existing
strengths in these sectors, including aerospace/defense and medical
technology/bio-innovation, make us ideal as a geographic hub for
emerging technologies and applications that require chips.
The Minnesota CHIPS Coalition was successful in its effort to
position the need for financial support from the State of Minnesota
with the passing of the Minnesota Forward Fund during the 2023
legislative session, including dedicated state match funds for
federal CHIPS awards.
Investments from federal and state agencies boost Greater MSP’s
ability to deliver economic growth, technological innovation and
inclusive job development. “Federal investments like this one are
key to the growth of our regional and state economy, driving
technology development and building prosperity for all
Minnesotans,” Frosch said. “Thanks to $250 million of dedicated
state matching funds through the Minnesota Forward Fund, the
region’s semiconductor industry is ready to scale.”
About the GREATER MSP Partnership
GREATER MSP is the economic development partnership for the
15-county Minneapolis Saint Paul region. GREATER MSP is a coalition
of more than 4,500 individuals from more than 300 leading
businesses, universities, cities, counties and philanthropic
organizations working together to accelerate competitiveness and
inclusive economic growth of the 15-county Minneapolis–Saint Paul
region while leading the nation in tackling the most difficult
challenges of the new economy. For more information, go to
greatermsp.org.
Media Contact
Don Ball, GREATER MSP Director of Communications
don.ball@greatermsp.org
612-810-3153