The law has come under attack from the Trump administration — who in his first address to Congress of this term last month said the law was a "bad deal" and should be undone. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., said during a visit to Syracuse last year that the bill was on the GOP's chopping block, before hastily backtracking his statements.
The CHIPS Act laid out billions in federal investments for semiconductor manufacturing across the country, but New York had some of the largest and most significant investments, including a $100 billion, four-facility microchip megafactory in Onondaga County, a $315 million expansion to a Corning specialty glass plant in St. Lawrence County, and targeted investments in new or expanding facilities in the Mohawk Valley, Capitol Region, Finger Lakes and Western New York.
A $40 million workforce development project, put in place by the CHIPS Act, is also benefiting western New York and Syracuse, helping lay the groundwork to fill the tens of thousands of new high-tech manufacturing jobs expected to open in the next few years as these projects come online.
"In the two years since CHIPS passed, we now have 50,000 new jobs coming to central New York because of Micron's investment," said Heather C. Mulligan, president and CEO of the Business Council of New York, the overarching entity of statewide Chambers of Commerce.
"Workforce challenges exist for this as they do for other sectors," she added. "Focusing on training for this sector, which has high-paying jobs, is something that will benefit not just people in the workforce currently, but people who can be upskilled and benefit the economy more broadly," she said. "Workforce is something we ask about in surveys, it's been top of the pile for years now."
Mulligan said all the investments and agreements struck by the CHIPS Act have long-range, permanent benefits for New York and are important parts of the plan to revitalize the upstate manufacturing economy and boost domestic computer component supply chains.
"The CHIPS Act has resulted in over $110 billion in investment in the U.S. since its inception, and it's very beneficial to New York's economy," Mulligan said. "We want to make sure that there's confidence that we continue on with the momentum we have from the CHIPS Act."
Mulligan also said she's hoping that Congress will move to re-authorize the 48D investment tax credit, which was authorized by the CHIPS Act and is set to expire in 2026, which gives select computer chip manufacturing companies and companies that feed the chip pipeline a break on their taxes in exchange for demonstrable, permanent investments in domestic production.
Garry Douglas, president and CEO of the North Country Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement to the Watertown Daily Times that the Micron investment and the CHIPS program have a chance to be revolutionary for northern New York.
"This is especially true for the Jefferson — St. Lawrence region which is well connected for possible economic development spinoffs and hosts companies like Corning and a world class center for related technology at Clarkson," he said.
Even for the eastern side of the region, the CHIPS investments are benefiting companies like Norsk Titanium. Add on top of that the investments in the Capitol Region to the south, with thousands of well paying jobs likely on the way, "with thousands of families likely coming to enjoy the Adirondacks."
"It's all a major advance with positive impacts across upstate," Douglas said.
© 2025 Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
