CLEVELAND, Ohio — Tech giant Intel Corp. says it will delay its planned ceremonial groundbreaking for a massive semiconductor manufacturing facility in the Columbus area.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was informed of the decision via a phone call with Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger earlier this week, according to DeWine’s office. Intel publicly cited “uncertainty” over federal legislation that would provide funding to reshore microchip manufacturing to the United States.
The groundbreaking ceremony was scheduled for July 22.
The move is not a signal that Intel is delaying or canceling construction of the planned $20 billion plant, which could expand to become a $100 billion facility and will continue as planned.
Rather, it is a sign of frustration and pressure aimed at Congress and their inability to come to a consensus on federal legislation. Congress has moved at a glacial pace in funding the CHIPS Act, with lawmakers haggling over the proposed $52 billion in incentives that are currently part of a larger “America COMPETES Act” pushed by Democrats. Republicans have balked at the idea of supporting the broader innovation package, which has a price tag of more than $300 billion.
“As we said in our January announcement, the scope and pace of our expansion in Ohio will depend heavily on funding from the CHIPS Act,” said Linda Qian, an Intel spokesperson. “Unfortunately, CHIPS Act funding has moved more slowly than we expected and we still don’t know when it will get done. It is time for Congress to act so we can move forward at the speed and scale we have long envisioned for Ohio and our other projects to help restore U.S. semiconductor manufacturing leadership and build a more resilient semiconductor supply chain.”
Intel is Oregon’s largest corporate employer, with 22,000 employees based out of its campuses in Washington County, but its decision to place a major new manufacturing site in Ohio raised hackles in Oregon.
Washington County remains the center of Intel’s research and development. The company recently opened an $3 billion expansion to its D1X research factory in Hillsboro and last month announced a $700 million datacenter lab there.
DeWine, a Republican, and President Joe Biden, a Democrat, have pointed to the Intel’s Ohio expansion as political victories for Ohio and country. State lawmakers pledged more than $2 billion in tax credits, infrastructure spending and other incentives as part of the deal.
Dan Tierney, a spokesman for DeWine, said the state was not ready to announce a groundbreaking date publicly before Intel’s decision to delay.
“We still had some work to do,” Tierney said. “Certainly we were hoping to have a ceremonial groundbreaking this summer.”
Tierney said DeWine shared in Intel’s frustration over CHIPS Act funding, but stressed that passage of the bill would only affect the expansion project, not the initial $20 billion plant.
