Often times, our public policymakers fail to receive praise for a job well done. However, with the passage of the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act, congress has secured an unprecedented investment for our nation and the state of Ohio. On behalf of the Ohio Chemistry Technology Council (OCTC), we thank you for bringing an economic juggernaut to our state and ensuring a robust domestic semi-conductor supply chain is established in the United States.
Earlier this year, it was announced that massive investments were being made in Ohio to bring the world’s largest semiconductor plant to the state. This high-tech industry would create 3,000 direct jobs with high-paying wages, 7,000 construction jobs, and tens of thousands of additional jobs across the landscape of the manufacturing industry. The average annual salary of those 3,000 direct jobs is expected to be more than $130,000. These are in-demand jobs that provide more Ohio families the ability to put food on the table, their children in daycare, and afford the rising costs of goods on everything from gas to groceries.
But most important to our members are the opportunities that come through supplying this industry with the requisite materials to make these world-class semiconductors. 97% of manufactured goods can trace their origins back to the industry of chemistry. There is no greater example of this than semiconductor manufacturing, which requires the use of more than 150 different chemical compounds. With over 600 chemical manufacturing sites in the state, the Ohio chemistry industry has the capacity to fuel this enormous opportunity for economic growth. The incentives in the CHIPS Act will not only ensure that those investments are delivered, but they will maximize future investment to the tune of $100 billion.
OCTC is the leading advocate for Ohio’s chemistry industry. Ohio is the third largest chemical manufacturing state in the United States. The chemistry industry in Ohio employs over 40,000 people, pays an average annual wage of over $100,000, and contributes more than $31 billion to the state’s economy. OCTC represents manufacturers that make tens of thousands of commodity, specialty, and batch chemicals that are needed to produce goods for nearly every industry including healthcare, transportation, consumer products, agriculture, and electronics.
The recent passage of the CHIPS Act demonstrates the commitment our elected leaders have towards the acceleration of domestic semiconductor manufacturing. The United States does not currently manufacture enough microchips to meet consumer demand, and with current worldwide supply chain and political disruptions, it is vital to the future of our nation’s economy that we continuously support the growth of the semiconductor industry. Thank you to all our champions in congress who shepherded this bill through the process.