Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Its semiconductor industry is preparing for a historic investment competition, driven by the $52 billion "chip bill" signed by the US president this month, according to the website. A report released on Wednesday warned that if Oregon does not actively participate in the competition, it will lag behind.

The report of the Oregon Semiconductor Competitiveness working Group calls for immediate action to protect and develop the state's semiconductor industry, including land use, tax and other incentives, labor development and the enforcement of environmental regulations.

"We are working on an Oregon battle plan to build a stronger chip industry and continue to create jobs for the forests of Micro Silicon Valley and the state as a whole," Democratic Senator Ron Wyden said at a news event at the report conference.

Wyden, Governor Kate Brown and Maria Pope, President and CEO of Portland General Electric, co-lead the working group.

Silicon Valley Forest in Oregon is home to a large number of chipmakers, including Intel, the state's largest private company, with 22000 workers in Washington County, the report said. In fact, Oregon accounts for 15% of the semiconductor labor force in the industry, and nearly half of all semiconductors are exported.

But recent events have forced people to reflect on the future of the Oregon chip industry. Computer chips drive modern life and provide brains for many tools such as cars, washing machines and video game consoles. Earlier this year, amid global chip shortages, Intel announced that it would invest $20 billion to build a 1000-acre chip plant in Ohio, similar to its plan in Arizona.

Oregon is Intel's research and development business center, but it has never really campaigned for the company's new plant. There is not enough industrial land in the state to accommodate a large factory.

Therefore, the Semiconductor working Group now hopes that Oregon will be in a favorable position in the upcoming semiconductor consumption boom. The authors predict that the Chip Act could bring tens of billions of dollars in investment, tax increases and job creation to the state over the next decade.

"in this competition of 50 states, we can't miss any opportunity in this very competitive semiconductor industry," Brown said on Wednesday.

The Chip Act is designed to counter the dominance of chip manufacturing in Asia. It provides $39 billion in financial support for companies building or expanding plants in the United States and $11 billion for semiconductor research and labor training.

The $2 billion research grant will be used to establish a national semiconductor technology center, which Intel has proposed to use to build an advanced lithography technology center in Oregon.

The report points to a series of obstacles that could hinder semiconductor companies from investing in Oregon and proposes specific solutions.

The report calls for strengthening the talent pipeline through extensive investment in education and partnerships, and recommends that the Ministry of Environmental quality strengthen communication with enterprises. Brown, who chairs the working group's environmental regulations committee, said the group planned to ask lawmakers for financial support to increase the staffing of the Ministry of Environmental quality to speed up licensing.

The report also urges Oregon to retain existing tax breaks and consider new methods of financial support, arguing that it is more expensive to build and operate factories in Oregon than in other states.

Given the huge cost of building and operating the plant, "tax breaks alone are not enough," the report said. The working group called for the expansion of the exempted loan scheme to help offset the costs of large construction projects. Of course, without land, it would be impossible to build a new factory. Land use is an area of particular concern to the working Group-and may be a key sensitive issue.

The group's Land use Committee can only find two developable industrial sites in the urban area, with a total area of only 82 acres: "it is worth noting that we do not have a site that can be developed to attract major semiconductor investment or to support larger suppliers."

The Land use Commission plans to continue its analysis and listen to the views of the community, providing a map that can accommodate semiconductor expansion in the autumn report, located "near the boundaries of urban development". One of the goals is to identify two sites that can accommodate large-scale projects, each with an area of more than 500 acres.

"in the future, we must quickly develop budget and legislative proposals to make the working group's recommendations a reality," Brown said. "on the first day of the 2023 legislative session, a package of recommendations will be ready for review by lawmakers and the next governor."

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