No one imagined when leaders began talking with Micron about coming to Central New York that four years later they’d gather in a snow-covered field in Clay breaking ground on the largest semiconductor chip fabrication plant in the nation. But that's just what hundreds of elected officials, key business leaders, and others did on a typically cold and snowy January day in CNY. Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra gave the order.
"Mr. Excavator! Start digging and get this $100 billion dollar project, the largest manufacturing site in America, going," he said. The machine took a big scoop of dirt and emptied it in a massive dump truck. The equipment will be used to prepare the 1,400-acre site at the White Pine Commerce Park.
Micron, an Idaho-based company, plans to build four mega fabrication plants over two decades on the site.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was the primary author of the CHIPS and Science Act, the $52 billion federal incentive package that lured Micron and other chip makers to make chips in the U.S. He remembered the early days of difficult negotiations with Micron.
"When I first visited this site, it was a wasteland. And everyone laughed at us, saying 'no one's going to come to Central New York. No one's going to want to be here. They're going to make all the chips in Arizona and Taiwan,'" Schumer said. "We said no. And the one guy who had the vision to understand how important it was to do it here was this man right here," he said, referring to Micron CEO Mehrotra standing next to him.
"Today, 0% of memory is made here in America," Mehrotra said. "Now, 40% of leading-edge memory over the next decade will be made right here in America. And you know, in your brain, you want more and faster memory.
That's the same story for AI. AI needs data. It needs faster, more memory. Micron is going to be making it right here in America."
That's one of the main goals of the CHIPS and Science Act: to bring chipmaking in the U.S. for national security. Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said Micron's facilities will make the country safer, and the county is ready to help.
"The moment is making sure that Micron continues to grow and be the world leader," he said. "To make that happen, we need the supply chain. We will give them the world-class infrastructure. We will build it here in New York. The governor is working on world-class energy. We will have that for you here in New York. And this is truly about the American worker and opportunity."
Governor Kathy Hochul also recalled the early days of flying on a small plane through a snowstorm to meet with Sanjay Mehrotra, and was determined not to leave without a commitment. She knew New York was at a competitive disadvantage with its reputation as an anti-business state. Hochul and state lawmakers ushered through their own incentive package to sweeten the deal for Micron.
"This has been a catalyst for more confidence and faith that businesses have in our state, that we are pro-business, that we want to support industries like Micron," she said. "And this is a huge point of pride for me personally."
Hochul, a western New York native who attended Syracuse University, frequently recalls the time in the 1970s and 80s when major manufacturers closed or left the state.
Land clearing is expected to begin immediately and the first fab should be finished in four years.
