Labor Leaders Join President Biden at INTEL Plant Groudbreaking
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined President Joe Biden, state and federal officials, and representatives from the Intel Corporation to break ground on Intel’s new $20 billion semiconductor plant in New Albany, which is made possible by the senator’s work to pass the CHIPS and Science Act.
“America invented the semiconductor. Yet today, 90 percent of them are made overseas. That ends now,” said Brown. “Today, we are burying the term ‘rust belt.’ We’re breaking ground on an investment in our greatest asset: Ohio workers. The technology of the future won’t just be developed in America – it will be made in America, in Ohio, where we have built the engines of progress for generations.”
President Biden was also quick to point out the Project Labor Agreement that ensures the plant will be built with trained and skilled union construction and trades workers.
"And I especially want to thank the labor leaders here: My dear friend Lonnie Stephenson of the IBEW; Tim Burga, President of the Ohio AFL-CIO; Brent Booker, Treasurer of the national building trades; and Mike Knisley, President of Ohio’s Building Trades.
The project will create at least 10,000 jobs, support tens of thousands of additional jobs in the area and will be built by Ohio union workers. The new plant will build out the domestic supply chain for this critical component for the auto industry and other high-tech manufacturing. This will speed up production, lower prices, end our reliance on China, and secure Ohio’s position as a leader in the industry.
“The CHIPS Act is major accomplishment that will boost domestic production of semiconductor computer chips and bolster American manufacturing. Most of the semiconductors and microchips that power our phones, household appliances, our vehicles and even our military’s weapons are made outside the U.S. This bill provides for a massive industry investment with the proper guardrails to ensure corporations that receive the assistance are doing the right thing for our national interests,” said Tim Burga, President of Ohio AFL-CIO.
Mike Knisley, President of Ohio’s Building Trades added, “The effects of this will be felt for decades as it not only ensures a new future for Ohio in microchip manufacturing but will help bring down inflation as well as strengthen our national security and defense.”