Orange County Partnership Gears Up to Attract Semiconductor Businesses

President Joe Biden (2nd L) looks at a 3D rendering of a future Micron factory presented by CEO of Micron Technology Sanjay Mehrotra (L) during a tour of the Micron Pavilion at the SRC Arena and Events Center of Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, N.Y., on Oct. 27, 2022. MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

The nonprofit that has driven Orange County’s high-value business growth for decades now sets its eyes on the burgeoning semiconductor industry.

Orange County Partnership President Maureen Halahan and Vice President of Business Attraction Conor Eckert have been meeting with key industry players lately, seeking to bring home a share of the growing semiconductor supply chain.

Primarily fueled by billions of dollars of federal and state incentives, the semiconductor industry is expected to grow substantially in Central New York.

Micron, a global industry leader, plans an investment of up to $100 billion over 20 years in constructing cutting-edge plants in Onondaga County.

Another manufacturer, Onsemi, recently announced a $1.3 billion investment in a specialty image sensor fabrication facility in Dutchess County.

That means new businesses supplying these manufacturers will sprout in surrounding communities—a growth opportunity the partnership leaders want to seize.

“We are centrally located between Onsemi in Dutchess with access to the capital region, where SUNY Poly is, Saratoga, and then Western New York,” Eckert said. “So we have that highway proximity, access to labor, and we also have sites that can accommodate a supply chain.”

SUNY Polytechnic Institute, a public university with campuses in Utica and Albany that’s known globally for research and development, is working with Micron to supply the future workforce.

Maureen Halahan (Courtesy of Orange County Partnership)

Halahan and Eckert toured SUNY Poly recently and are in talks with Fei Tian College at Middletown for potential workforce development partnerships.

They also met with the site selector who brought Micron to Onondaga County for growth opportunities.

Last August, President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act into law, which will infuse $50 billion into the U.S. semiconductor (also known as chips) industry.

In the same month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Green CHIPS legislation, which aims to make New York a semiconductor manufacturing hub with state incentives.

Proactively Attracting High-Paying Jobs

On top of the semiconductor industry, the OC Partnership focuses on attracting food and beverage manufacturers, the life science and pharmaceutical industry, and clean energy companies.

Last year, the partnership started a new initiative—the Site Inventory Program—to proactively identify suitable sites countywide for future developments.

“That helps us when we get an inquiry from a prospect,” Eckert said. “We don’t have to take three days to figure out which community is ready; we know the infrastructure profiles of all communities and have all the answers up front.”

Conor Eckert (Courtesy of Orange County Partnership)

In the past months, Halahan and Eckert met with mayors, town supervisors, planning board chairs, and municipal engineers to gauge interest and gather infrastructure profiles.

They look for water, sewer, and utility capacities, how experienced the planning boards are, and how residents perceive economic developments.

“What we found is that all communities are open to high-end jobs,” Eckert said.