WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, applauded Intel’s $17.7 million first phase of investment in Ohio higher education.

In March, Intel announced a $100 million investment in Ohio higher education initiatives that would
benefit the semiconductor industry.

Intel’s announcement is in partnership with the U.S. National Science Foundation, which will provide an additional $50 million for research grants nationally that will be available to Ohio institutions.

Friday’s announcement followed Intel’s groundbreaking at its $20 billion semiconductor plant in New Albany, which is expected to create more than 10,000 jobs.

Brown’s office said he worked with local and state leaders and other members of Ohio’s Congressional delegation to ensure that Intel chose Ohio for what will be its most advanced manufacturing facility in the world.

This project will help reverse decades of offshoring American manufacturing. Currently, 75 percent of chip manufacturing capacity is in Asian countries, mainly Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and China – but with this facility, chips will become a major Ohio export.

“We need to make more things in America – and there’s no better place than in Ohio, with Ohio workers,” Brown said.

“This investment will help make Ohio the center of semiconductor innovation. We can’t let China and other foreign competitors lead us in this critical industry,” he said. “We already know that Intel’s record investment in Ohio will mean more than 10,000 new, good-paying jobs, and this added investment in higher education will help to ensure that Ohioans are responsible for burying the term ‘Rust Belt.’”

Each recipient project has a different scope and different levels of funding, these range between $1.1 million to $3.5 million over 3 years.

Projects include:

• Ohio-southwest Alliance on Semiconductors and Integrated Scalable-Manufacturing for collaboration between 15 institutions with focus on developing technicians and entry-level engineers.

Programs range from rapid technician certification to advanced device fabrication design.

• Intel Semiconductor Education Program at Central State University for collaboration between five schools, led by an HBCU, to develop diverse technicians and entry-level engineers and focus on adding semiconductor courses to existing manufacturing and computer science programs.

• Ohio Semiconductor Collaboration Network for 23 community and technical colleges with focus on technician training to add semiconductor-specific courses and equipment to existing advanced manufacturing programs.

• Pathways to a Semiconductor Career for 14 Northeast Ohio institutions with a range of programs for fab technicians, entry-level engineers, and advanced-degree graduates in manufacturing.

• Ohio TechNet Northeast Ohio Semiconductor Workforce Consortium for 11 Northeast Ohio institutions with earn-and-learn models for technicians and entry-level engineers. Training in fabrication, equipment operations, robotics, cybersecurity, and data analytics.

• Appalachian Semiconductor Education & Technical Ecosystem for 14 Appalachian-region institutions with range of programs to develop fab technicians, entry-level engineers, and advanced-degree graduates in needed research areas.

• Center for Advanced Semiconductor Fabrication Research and Education – for collaboration between 10 universities focused on research for advancing state of semiconductor fabrication for next generation device technologies.

• The Ohio Partnership for a Diverse and Inclusive Semiconductor Ecosystem and Workforce for collaboration between 18 institutions with range of programs (including A/R & V/R) fab technicians, entry-level engineers, and advanced-degree graduates with training in advanced manufacturing.