BLOOMINGTON, Minn., May 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, along with Governor Tim Walz and other officials, today announced that Polar Semiconductor will invest $525 million to expand its Bloomington manufacturing facility, leveraging $120 million in direct funding as part of the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act and a $75 million investment from the State of Minnesota.
A Biden administration priority, the bipartisan 2022 CHIPS Act encourages semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. by investing $50 billion to bolster the nation’s production of advanced semiconductors, used in many electronics from phones and computers to electric vehicles and weapons systems.
“The federal government’s significant investment in Polar Semiconductor is key to building the digital infrastructure in the Greater MSP region to meet the needs of a diversity of industries, including medical devices, consumer electronics, automobiles, data centers, and space and military systems and fuel the nation’s next economy,” said Peter Frosch, President and CEO of the GREATER MSP Partnership.
First win for the Minnesota CHIPS Coalition
These landmark investments in Polar Semiconductor represent the first major CHIPS investment for a member of the Minnesota CHIPS Coalition, formed by the GREATER MSP Partnership in late 2022 after the passing of the federal CHIPS and Science Act. Composed of more than 70 organizations, including manufacturers, supply-chain partners, education and training providers, labor organizations, and state and local governments, the coalition is working together to supercharge the state’s already robust semiconductor and microelectronics industry.
Collaborations like the Minnesota CHIPS Coalition underscore the strength, vitality and relevance of the 15-county MSP region. “Our region is collaborating at scale to tackle some of our greatest national and global challenges, including reigniting the nation’s semiconductor industry while ensuring our economic security and creating good jobs,” Frosch said. “Because of our exceptional ability to work together, we are quickly becoming the problem-solving capital of the next economy.”
Polar Semiconductor’s win validates the work of the Minnesota CHIPS Coalition over the last 18 months, including the development of a workforce partnership, an employer-led workforce group made up over 20 chips employers, educational institutions, training providers and governmental agencies working together to implement solutions that will increase the semiconductor and microelectronics talent pool in Minnesota. A childcare plan was developed through the Minnesota CHIPS Coalition, recognizing the need for flexible and affordable childcare. The plan establishes a public-private collaboration to identify solutions to childcare, historically a barrier to employment. The Polar expansion will create 160 jobs.
Bold vision for Minnesota’s semiconductor industry
The Minnesota CHIPS Coalition seeks to make Minnesota a top-10 leader in the Midwest for semiconductor learning, development and manufacturing, adding 10,000 more jobs to an industry critical to national and economic security. Minnesota’s semiconductor industry is poised for growth thanks to numerous strategic strengths:
- Existing ecosystem. Minnesota is one of just a few regions in the U.S. that has an existing full semiconductor value chain, including design, fabs/foundries, toolmakers, integrators, gas/chemical producers, testing, packaging, contractors/suppliers. Minnesota’s companies annually export over $1.2 billion in semiconductor related components and import nearly $575 million in semiconductor related components.
- It’s in our DNA. Minnesota has a history of supercomputing and semiconductors, beginning with Control Data Corporation/UNIVAC/Cray Research in the 1960s. We’ve been at this a long time and have a concentration of institutional expertise to build upon.
- Resilience. Minnesota’s central U.S. location and low natural disaster risk make us ideally situated to support semiconductor manufacturing.
- Talent. Minnesota already has one of the largest and most concentrated talent bases for semiconductor production and is a top-10 state for manufacturing of computer and peripheral equipment, instruments, and semiconductor and other electronic components. Our colleges and universities produce a strong base of talent in materials science and engineering, chemical engineering, and electrical engineering.
- Unique industry synergies. Chips are fundamental to the operation of medical devices and virtually every military system, including communications and navigation systems. Minnesota’s existing strengths in these sectors, including aerospace/defense and medical technology/bio-innovation, make us ideal as a geographic hub for emerging technologies and applications that require chips.
The Minnesota CHIPS Coalition was successful in its effort to position the need for financial support from the State of Minnesota with the passing of the Minnesota Forward Fund during the 2023 legislative session, including dedicated state match funds for federal CHIPS awards.
Investments from federal and state agencies boost Greater MSP’s ability to deliver economic growth, technological innovation and inclusive job development. “Federal investments like this one are key to the growth of our regional and state economy, driving technology development and building prosperity for all Minnesotans,” Frosch said. “Thanks to $250 million of dedicated state matching funds through the Minnesota Forward Fund, the region’s semiconductor industry is ready to scale.”
About the GREATER MSP Partnership
GREATER MSP is the economic development partnership for the 15-county Minneapolis Saint Paul region. GREATER MSP is a coalition of more than 4,500 individuals from more than 300 leading businesses, universities, cities, counties and philanthropic organizations working together to accelerate competitiveness and inclusive economic growth of the 15-county Minneapolis–Saint Paul region while leading the nation in tackling the most difficult challenges of the new economy. For more information, go to greatermsp.org.
Media Contact
Don Ball, GREATER MSP Director of Communications
612-810-3153
