The Biden administration is providing $162 million in incentives to expand facilities for an Arizona-based computer chip manufacturer.
The funds provided to the Chandler-based Microchip Technology Inc. come from the CHIPS and Science Act signed by President Joe Biden in 2022.
The incentives include $90 million to improve a plant in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and $72 million to expand a factory in Gresham, Oregon.
The Department of Commerce says the investment will be able to create over 700 construction and manufacturing jobs, and allow the company to triple its output of semiconductors.
Much of the money would fund the making of microcontrollers, which are used by the military as well as in vehicles, household appliances and medical devices. Government officials said they expected the investments to create 700 construction and manufacturing jobs over the next decade.
Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic Council, emphasized that the funding would help to tame inflation.
"Semiconductors are the key input in so many goods that are vital to our economy,” said Brainard, adding that greater U.S. production of chips would have reduced the supply problems that caused the cost of autos and washing machines, among other goods, to rise as the country emerged from the coronavirus pandemic in 2021.
