Award Will Promote Workforce Readiness at San Jacinto Community College
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Commerce announced it has reached a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) with Sumika Semiconductor Materials Texas Inc., (Sumika) to award the company up to $52.1 million in direct funding and create nearly 300 jobs in Baytown, Texas. This funding is made available through the CHIPS and Science Act, which provided resources for the programs created in Sen. Cornyn’s CHIPS for America Act to restore semiconductor manufacturing on American soil:
“By investing in semiconductor manufacturing and the industries that support it, we are helping secure this vulnerable supply chain, boosting our national security and global competitiveness, and creating new jobs for Texans,” said Sen. Cornyn. “The high-purity chemicals made by Sumika in Baytown will help the U.S. reclaim its leadership role in the critically important semiconductor industry, and I look forward to seeing more Texas-led advancements in the years to come.”
Background:
Sen. Cornyn authored the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act, now law, to restore semiconductor manufacturing on American soil by increasing federal support to stimulate advanced chip manufacturing, enable cutting-edge research and development (R&D), secure the supply chain, create American jobs, and ensure long-term national security. The bill was included in the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021 and became law on January 1, 2021. Funding for the programs created in the CHIPS for America Act was signed into law as part of the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022 to spur growth in the domestic semiconductor industry.
The CHIPS and Science Act included $52 billion in financial assistance to build, expand, or modernize domestic facilities and equipment for semiconductor fabrication, assembly, testing, and advanced packaging; research and development; expanding the semiconductor workforce; and supporting the Department of Defense (DoD).
Under the CHIPS for America program, the U.S. Department of Commerce may offer applicants a PMT on a non-binding basis after satisfactory completion of the merit review of a full application. The PMT outlines key terms for a CHIPS incentives award, including the amount and form of the award.
This investment will support construction of a greenfield factory in Baytown, Texas to manufacture ultra-high purity isopropyl alcohol used in advanced logic and memory chip production, and it represents the company’s first major investment in high-purity chemicals production in the United States. Sumika has partnered with the Lee College Center for Workforce and Community Development and San Jacinto College to support a skilled workforce in high purity chemical processing jobs.
In June 2023, Governor Abbott signed into law the Texas CHIPS Act, which works in conjunction with this federal legislation to maintain and expand Texas’ dominance in the semiconductor industry.
Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, is a member of the Senate Finance, Judiciary, Intelligence, Foreign Relations, and Budget Committees.