A complicated and lengthy environmental review process for the massive Micron complex in Clay isn’t dampening Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon’s enthusiasm for the project. It was about a month ago when the county’s development agency said Micron plans to start construction in November 2025. That’s much later than the original groundbreaking set for this June before getting pushed back to next spring. McMahon says he doesn’t want to call it a delay.
“Delay kind of suggests that work is stopped or pencils are down. Nobody's doing that. That's not what's happening at all," McMahon said. "Work is expedited, and you have 30 or 40 different agencies looking at these things. And if it was just the state environmental review, we'd be in really, really good shape right now.”
It's the federal review that’s taking longer. The county is also awaiting Micron’s draft environmental report, due in mid-December. While construction on the first chip fabrication plant is postponed, McMahon says the second fab is likely to be completed three years ahead of schedule. In all, Micron has said it plans to spend 100 billion dollars to build four fabs over 20 years. In preparation, McMahon says the county is also actively talking to potential suppliers and securing property.
“Foreign companies aren't going to call up a realtor here in central New York and get into a bidding war. They don't have to," McMahon said. "Their model in Taiwan is you have a science and business park that the government basically does everything for, and they pay rent. So if I want to get a Taiwanese company here, I have to meet them where they are, with the model that they're used to.”
McMahon and Mayor Ben Walsh led a six-person delegation to Taiwan in March, and already have commitments to two suppliers.
