samsung

Published reports today indicate that Samsung Electronics Co. has decided to build a $17 billion semiconductor plant in Taylor, Texas, ending speculation that South Korea’s largest company would be locating the facility in New York State and, possibly, at the Western New York Science & Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park in the town of Alabama.

A story from Bloomberg Wire stated the chip-making plant will be constructed in the Central Texas city, which is about 30 miles from Samsung’s giant manufacturing hub in Austin.

A news conference led by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott reportedly is scheduled for 5 this afternoon.

Sources close to the project said the plant would create about 1,800 jobs and chip production is expected to start at the end of 2024.

As late as September, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer – during an appearance at STAMP to promote Plug Power’s decision to build a green hydrogen facility there – said that Samsung officials toured the 1,250-acre site owned by the Genesee County Economic Development Center and that he was communicating “on a regular basis” with the company’s president.

A resolution posted on the Taylor, Texas, website reveals that the city is offering Samsung more than $300 million in tax credits for the first 10 years – and additional incentives for two subsequent 10-year periods, plus a tax waiver of 92.5 percent on all new property built on the site for the first 10 years.

Representatives of Samsung have visited the Western New York Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park in recent days, Sen. Charles Schumer said today, renewing optimism that the international semiconductor manufacturer may join Plug Power, the Latham-based leader in the development of hydrogen fuel cell systems, in placing a production plant at the 1,250-acre site in the Town of Alabama.

Announcing what he called a "two-pronged approach" at a press conference at the STAMP site off Route 77, Schumer (photo above) said that he has been communicating on a regular basis with the president of Samsung, based in South Korea, and the head of the company's United States operations -- promoting STAMP as the ideal location for the semiconductor facility it is looking to build.

The second prong of Schumer's plan is the passing of special tax credits by Congress to enable Plug Power to expand its operation in Genesee County even beyond its initial projection of producing 45 tons of green energy per day to 500 tons per day by 2025. Plug Power officials are expecting to begin operations at STAMP in about 16 months.

"If we become a manufacturer of high-end chips and if we become a center of hydrogren and hydrogen fuel and hydrogen cells, that will affect jobs in Buffalo, Rochester and all of Western New York," Schumer said. "It will be a great job magnet right here ... in Genesee County ... between Rochester and Buffalo."

Schumer said the goal is to attract jobs and tenants to "this campus right here in Genesee County ... and in Western New York."

He said he is trying to land Samsung's $17 million chip fab and touted Plug Power for building North America's largest green hydrogen fuel cell plant at STAMP.

"Those are two major, major things," he said, drawing applause from several government, business and education leaders who were in attendance.

WNY STAMP is owned by the Genesee County Economic Development Center, which was represented by its CEO/President Steve Hyde and other high-ranking employees and board members.

The senator said key components of the strategy is to obtain federal dollars to attract a company such as Samsung, and "to bring critical infusions of federal support to make STAMP a domestic hub for new semiconductor and clean energy industries -- both."

Schumer said he is "quadrupling down" on his efforts to secure new semiconductor manufacturing at STAMP, adding that he authored legislation to allocate $15 billion dollars "so we can make our own chips here."

"If we don't do it, our national security is at risk and our economy is at risk," he said. "And if they're all made overseas -- in Taiwan and in China -- we're going to lose."

He said that many automobile companies in the U.S. are experience slow production because they can't get semiconductor chips.

"I've told the top brass at Intel, Micron and, of course, Samsung that STAMP is an ideal location, and, of course, I will use my clout as (Senate) majority leader once we get the chip manufacturing dollars passed into law ... I will use my clout to try and bring one of those companies right here to Genesee County."

The United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 includes $52 billion in incentives for semiconductor manufacturing and research that Schumer said is critical to Samsung and other companies that want to expand their operations in the U.S. He said the USICA is supported by President Biden and "will get through the House (of Representatives) this fall.

Schumer said he has confirmed that Samsung is considering the STAMP site, although no final decisions have been made. 

"After a lot of calls showing them that STAMP is the right place for them and showing them that they would have the majority leader on their side, in terms of getting an allocation, they came and visited (last month) and saw for themselves. They paid a visit and saw first-hand how STAMP is -- how tailor-made STAMP is for hosting large semiconductor fab right here," he said.

PUSHING FOR PLUG POWER

Concerning Plug Power, Schumer said he is launching a $9.5 billion push to secure new hydrogen investments through the recently-passed, bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed the House and the Senate.

"And we're also including more money for hydrogen and green hydrogen during the upcoming negotiations in the Budget Reconciliation bill," he said. "There are two major parts to this. Already in the bill that passed the Senate, is $8 billion to create four hydrogen hubs in the country. There's no better place than Western New York in terms of hydrogen."

He said Plug Power was the leading hydrogen cell fuel company in the country, and is in near completion of building a "giga-factory" in Henrietta that will employ 380 people.

Schumer said he also is promoting a multi-billion dollar "production tax credit" in addition to the investment tax credit that already is on the books. He said the production tax credit would lower the cost to make green hydrogen by up to $3 per kilogram "and that means more customers for green hydrogen, more demand for the fuel made here at STAMP and more demand for the Plug Power jobs in Western New York."

By increasing the output from 45 tons to 500 tons per day, Plug Power would be creating 700 additional jobs at the STAMP site, Schumer said.

Plug Power's hydrogen cells power forklifts used at some of the world's biggest companies, including Walmart, Amazon and BMW, said Plug Power President/CEO Andrew Marsh, who also was at the press conference.

"The bipartisan infrastructure job act has over a $1 billion for electrolyzers -- for research, demonstration, commercialization and also for reducing the cost and increasing reliability," Marsh said, adding that electrolyzers create hydrogen from green electricity (with) a zero carbon footprint.

He said that leading market experts foresee hydrogen as being 23 percent of the world's energy by 2050.

Marsh said Plug Power's goal is to produce 500 tons of hydrogen per day -- "that's equivalent to a million gallons of gasoline," he advised -- and is poised to do that, in part thanks to raising $5 billion as a publicly-traded company on the NASDAQ exchange.

Currently, Plug Power has 1,700 employees, with 1,000 of them in New York.

From GCEDC President/CEO Steve Hyde:

"The STAMP site was designed and is being built to enable the acceleration of new technologies and advances in manufacturing with our outstanding renewable energy and talent availability. The commitment by Plug Power to bring green hydrogen to the market with Project Gateway at STAMP, and of Senate Majority Leader Schumer to expand the benefit of Genesee County, our region and state, and for the future of our economy and environment."

Photos below: Plug Power President/CEO Andrew Marsh speaking at today's press conference at WNY STAMP site; GCEDC President/CEO Steve Hyde with Schumer and Marsh. Photos by Mike Pettinella.

A high-ranking official of the local industrial development agency that owns the Western New York Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park says Plug Power’s investment in the Town of Alabama site will more than offset the loss in revenue caused by removing about 1,100 acres of mostly farmland from the tax rolls.

That official, Mark Masse, is senior vice president of operations for the Genesee County Economic Development Center.

“I know that people get upset with farmland coming out of production but when you have projects like Plug Power that can give you a 10 to 25 times rate of return, that is a significant help – not only to the agricultural community but also your residents,” Masse said.

“We do not give money away. We do not give out bags of cash. That is what everybody seems to have a misconception about. We give an abatement, so they don’t pay the tax.”

Masse and Jim Krencik, the agency’s director of marketing and communications, sat down with The Batavian earlier this week at their Upstate Med & Tech Park office on R. Stephen Hawley Drive to talk about STAMP and the GCEDC’s other ventures.

According to Masse, the agency has acquired 25 parcels equating to 1,144 acres of STAMP’s total of 1,250 acres. He said the assessed value of those properties is about $3 million.

He said that based on 2020 tax rates, that comes to about $104,00 a year for all three taxing jurisdictions – the Town of Alabama, Oakfield-Alabama Central School and Genesee County.

“So, if you were to say that we owned all of those properties for the 10 years – which we didn’t, because we acquired them over time – so you couldn’t apply 10 years to all of them,” he said. “But if you did, that would just be about a million dollars in tax revenue lost over 10 years.”

‘A SIGNIFICANTLY BIGGER PAYBACK’

Masse said that pales in comparison to what Plug Power, the Latham-based producer of green hydrogen fuel cells, will be paying to those three entities as a result of agreeing to build a $232.7 million manufacturing plant and $53 million, 345/115 kilovolt electric power substation at STAMP.

“The Plug Power project will generate a significantly bigger payback than all of those combined,” he said. “So, that’s the big windfall, so to speak, for these municipalities. These are 20-year agreements we’re entering into for Plug Power and those payments are about $1.4 million a year to the taxing jurisdictions, compared to previously collecting only $104,000.”

The contract with Plug Power includes a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes), community benefit agreement and community education agreement. Masse said those are classified together as a property tax and it is "additional revenue for the taxing jurisdictions being driven by the project.”

Directors of the GCEDC have approved $118.8 million in property tax ($117.7 million) and sales tax ($1.1 million) abatements for Plug Power.

Krencik said the incentives are based on Plug Power’s performance outlook, including a pledge to create 68 full-time jobs, with salaries and benefits equaling about $70,000 per job.

“When considering the company’s capital investment, job creation, initial investment and projected revenues, the estimate economic impact is $4.40 for every $1 of requested public investment,” he said. “Comparing that against all of our corporate taxpayers in Genesee County, aside from utilities (National Grid, National Fuel), when you look at a single-source business, such as a theme park or a manufacturer, this would make this project the largest single company taxpayer of all those in Genesee County.”

“Unlike when the land – mostly farmland -- was vacant and you had $104,000 in annual taxes, this $1.4 million that Plug Power is going to pay is on 30 acres,” Masse added. “So, that’s a significant rate of return that you see on these types of projects.”

KRENCIK: FOLLOWING THE MODEL

Plug Power is the first tenant at STAMP, which has sat dormant for many years. In 2016, Gov. Andrew Cuomo came to Batavia to announce that 1366 Technologies, a solar wafer manufacturer based in Massachusetts, would be building a facility at STAMP but that deal eventually fell through.

Krencik said the GCEDC was following a model used by other municipalities – acquiring land and working to install necessary infrastructure to attract interest from mega-companies such as Plug Power.

He said he understands how inactivity at these large sites could lead to public dissatisfaction, while the lack of progress isn’t as evident at smaller manufacturing parks, such as the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park on East Main Street Road.

“That’s kind of been the model across all the towns – you typically see a shorter timeline on some of these things because they’re smaller projects, smaller sites, smaller infrastructure,” he explained. “In the case of an ag park, I don’t think you’d feel the same type of pressure where you may be thinking, ‘Is there a loss there?’

“There are acres in the ag parks that currently are not on the tax rolls, but, of course, you already see the benefit in Batavia where you have two very large operations that are significant contributors to the town, city schools and the county (HP Hood and Upstate Milk Cooperative).”

Masse agreed, adding that the GCEDC is running out of acreage, “but that’s a good problem to have.”

MASSE: FARMERS BEAR THE BURDEN

Getting back to STAMP, Masse said the GCEDC continues to pay the fire district fees on those properties as they are not tax exempt.

“So, the emergency fire support services are still being paid for all the properties that we own, with the tax based on the assessed values and fire district tax rate,” he said.

Masse also mentioned that many parcels zoned Agricultural receive property tax exemptions.

“Obviously, agriculture is the No. 1 industry in Genesee County and if you look at who bears the largest tax burden in the county it is farmers, because they own the majority of the land,” he said. “That’s why they try to give them some help with the ag exemption. They’ll scale them in over a time period.”

He brought up a municipal consumption study that was done in Amherst around a decade ago that showed that commercial enterprises consume about 80 cents in municipal services while residential consumes around $1.20 in municipal services.

“Everybody complains about these companies but, in the long run, they’re going to help subsidize the municipal services that the residents use more of,” he said. “That’s always our hope that we’re not only creating jobs but also creating additional tax base to alleviate the tax burden. Creating those jobs and having those people spend their money here … what they call the indirect and induced effect of that money being spent throughout your community.”

COMPANIES MUST MEET THEIR GOALS

Masse said companies’ economic impact projections are keys to determining if they qualify for tax incentives and the amount of those incentives.

“Firms are required in their applications to give us the number of full-time equivalent (jobs) that they believe will be created by their projects,” he said. “Back in October of 2015 or 2016, the law changed. Now, that job creation goal is put into our PILOT agreements and other agreements. If they do not achieve that, our board could consider cancelling their PILOT and making them claw back and basically, pay back the incentives that they took.”

He said the GCEDC tracks companies as long as they are receiving benefits and that the board of directors would likely would call in a company to find out why it didn’t reach its goals.

“So, for the 10 years of a PILOT, they are required to report to us their annual job numbers every year. We record them and input them into the New York State reporting system – PARIS (Public Authorities Reporting Information System),” he said. “It’s a public document that shows how many jobs were pledged and how many were created. Once the PILOT expires, the company is no longer required to report those jobs to us.”

Krencik credited Masse for staying in touch with the cities, towns and villages that usually initiate construction projects.

“Mark meets with the town, the school and the county folks more than I meet with members of my immediately family,” Krencik said. “He has kept that dialogue going. At the town board level, for example, that is a strong mode of communication.”  

STAMP DIVIDED INTO ‘DISTRICTS’

A look at the layout of STAMP reveals that it is divided into three “technology districts”:

• Technology District 1 -- a 600-acre parcel in the northern portion dedicated to high-tech manufacturing, including semiconductor, renewable energy and other advanced industries;

• Technology District 2 -- office, and research and development space;

• Technology District 3- -- area geared toward retail support services.

Masse said the concept was to create blocks of three semiconductor chip “fabs” that would open six million square feet for production, accommodating 930 employees.

“We went through the required State Environmental Quality Review, with the full build-out (as such) that if it’s within those thresholds, we really don’t have to do more work,” he said. “When we proposed to rezone the property, that is an action under SEQR and any proposed changes have to comply with SEQR.”

He said that’s what the GCEDC did in 2010 and “that took the better part of two years to get through that process.”

POWER, GAS LINES ARE RIGHT THERE

Masse also said that the presence of the nearby dual 345kV power lines and a National Fuel Empire Pipeline, a 24-inch natural gas transmission line, was a major reason the Town of Alabama location was selected.

“The 345 kV power lines take power from the Niagara Falls power station and run it down to New York City. We did a system impact study that revealed we can pull down 450 megawatts off of those lines,” he said. “With that, we would construct a very large, about a 10-acre substation (on the site), that would be a 345 to 115 kV – it would step the voltage down.”

As previously stated, Plug Power is funding this substation at a cost of about $53 million. Both the Plug Power plant and the substation are expected to be operational by December 2022.

Plug Power, along with the 30 acres it purchased for the green hydrogen facility, has a right of first refusal for an adjoining 30 acres for the possibility of future expansion.

The GCEDC has no applications for other major manufacturers at this time, Masse said. A couple months ago, it was rumored that Samsung was interested in placing a semiconductor manufacturing plant at STAMP.

INCREASED INTEREST IN STAMP?

When asked if Plug Power’s pending move to STAMP has generated more interest in the site, Masse said he’s hopeful that other businesses will take note. He did, however, mention that the COVID-19 pandemic “has driven a lot of companies to take a hard look at where they’re sourcing their products from and where are they selling their products to.”

“COVID broke a lot of supply chain issues throughout the world,” he said. “I think we’ve seen that with shortages and price increases of a lot of things. A lot of companies are doing a reassessment, saying we don’t ever want to go through that again.”

As a result, Masse said that companies are looking to locate new facilities coming out of COVID-19.

“So, one of the nice things about the Plug Project is that timelines are crucial to these companies – time is money to them,” he offered. “That substation is a major piece of infrastructure. Having that in place will go a long way toward alleviating companies’ concerns about that being available. We have the force main of the sewer project under construction. The only real long lead time item left will be the water from Niagara County, and we are just completing our design and engineering on that as well.”

Masse said he sees a light at the end of the tunnel.

“A lot of people say, well, it’s been 10 years and all you have done is build a road. They don’t see the amount of soft work, so to speak, that is in my office in about 2,000 pages worth of documents of archaeological, environmental, phase one, phase two – all the design and engineering you have to do and all the regulatory agencies you have deal with. That takes time, and that’s what we have been working on very diligently,” he said.

The development of STAMP has been beneficial to Town of Alabama residents already, he said, in that they gained access to municipal water.

“If we had not done this, they could not afford to get municipal water,” he said. “They had failing wells. A lot of those people were spending $1,500, $2,000 a year on replacing equipment because the water was so bad. And because we were able to fund a significant portion of the water, the town was able to add on and they’re going to end up covering about 95 percent of town residents with public water.”

CORPORATE PARKS IN FULL SWING

The GCEDC has invested tens of millions of dollars in the STAMP project, likely more than anticipated, but Masse said he is confident that the agency’s track record of success in Genesee County will produce a similar outcome in the Town of Alabama.

“If you look at our corporate parks, they’re almost all full at this time,” he said. “It was 2007 when the Ag Park was started. You can see the success that we have had there.”

The Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park is one of seven corporate parks owned by the GCEDC. Currently, HP Hood, Upstate Niagara and O-At-Ka Milk Products are running at high capacity and are expanding, Masse said.

The other corporate parks are as follows:

• Le Roy Food & Tech Park in the Town of Le Roy: BioWorks has just signed to take 60 of the park’s 75 acres, and the Le Roy Town Board has set a public hearing for July 8 to consider rezoning neighboring parcels for expansion.

Word has it that Great Lakes Cheese, an Ohio-based manufacturer, has approached individual landowners with purchase offers. Masse said Great Lakes Cheese has yet to apply to the GCEDC for incentives.

“We do not have any applications from any companies for that location,” he said. “A lot of companies will go out and do due diligence on sites. We do not own the property. Whoever is talking with private landowners is between them.”

• Apple Tree Acres, Bergen: Sixty-two percent of the acreage there is sold, with Liberty Pumps as the key tenant. Liberty Pumps is undergoing an expansion project as well.

• Gateway I and Gateway II Corporate Park, on both sides of Route 98 near the Thruway exit: “All of those acres are spoken for,” Masse said.

• Med Tech Center on R. Stephen Hawley Drive: The GCEDC has renovated 800 square feet of space in that building that is available for lease.

• Buffalo East Tech Park in Pembroke: Artisan cheese maker Yancey’s Fancy has a new plant there and a couple smaller businesses are being proposed for that site.

Masse said he believes that the more the public knows about economic development projects, the perception that the GCEDC is just an administrator of corporate welfare will subside.

“We’ve tried to do public outreach sessions, but they were poorly attended,” he said. “However, all of our agency business is open to public viewing. From a transparency standpoint, we are as transparent an organization as you’re going to find. Everything is on our website. Our board meetings are recorded and they’re Zoomed. Everything we have is out there under public authorities law.”

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SENECA NATION FILES SUIT

In a separate development, Masse said it is agency policy to not comment on any pending litigation.

Earlier this month, the Tonawanda Seneca Nation filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court in Genesee County, disputing the GCEDC’s determination that the Plug Power project would have no negative effect on the nation’s “Big Woods” land that is situated on the western end of STAMP.

According to the lawsuit’s preliminary statement, the Seneca Nation considers that area “as a property of religious and cultural significance” and that the Plug Power siting would infringe upon those grounds. The plaintiff also contends that the GCEDC did not provide notification prior to the completion of the environmental review process.

Photo at top: Mark Masse, right, and Jim Krencik at the Genesee County Economic Development Center on R. Stephen Hawley Drive; Photo at bottom: A look at the WNY STAMP site, with the Plug Power project area "X'd out" just south of the Technology District 1 area highlighted in purple. Photos by Mike Pettinella.

At first glance, one might think that a major metropolitan area such as Austin, Texas, or Phoenix, Arizona, would have major advantages over the Western New York Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park – better known as STAMP – when it comes to convincing an international corporation to build a semiconductor facility in the Town of Alabama.

But not so fast, says Steve Hyde, chief executive officer of the Genesee County Economic Development Center, who participated in a video interview with Howard Owens, publisher of The Batavian, earlier today.

Hyde, when given the opportunity to “sell the STAMP site,” didn’t hesitate -- coming up with several reasons why it would be beneficial for a company such as Samsung, for example, to build a $13 billion chip manufacturing plant at STAMP.

Recent published reports indicated that Samsung was considering STAMP – as well as the Austin and Phoenix areas – for a new semiconductor plant and that the Albany-based Plug Power was planning on operating a “green hydrogen” facility at the Genesee County park.

“STAMP can really compete and they (potential tenants) have got to take a serious look at us,” Hyde said. “That’s why we’re seeing opportunities in a big way right now in the marketplace.”

Hyde backed up that statement by pointing out that STAMP is located between two metropolitan areas (Buffalo and Rochester), has a growing and hungry workforce, and has access to low-cost green energy, and also the fact that New York does not impose “personal property taxes” on manufacturing equipment – a significant savings to these mega companies.

“There are very discreet advantages here in Western New York that you want to seize upon and emphasize,” Hyde said. “And they also need to consider that against some of the challenges in a market that has been a boomtown for 25 years (speaking of Austin) … that you have incredible competition for the workforce there right now.”

He noted that in Austin, the home of Tesla, Oracle, Texas Instruments and Samsung, big companies are competing for the same set of workers.

“Plus, the infrastructure there is overwhelmed and the congestion is crazy. So, there’s some challenges there relative to workforce,” he said. “When you look at us, we’re at a distance of a mile a minute you can literally travel on the highways. And there’s a well-qualified workforce from New York’s second- and third-largest metros. And for the pay rate at STAMP (estimated at $75,000 to $100,000 annually) … those workers will drive 30 to 45 minutes.”

Hyde also said another big advantage is that New York doesn’t charge “personal property taxes.”

“All of the manufacturing equipment in Texas is taxed as personal property taxes. So, when you really look closely at it, we’re going to be really aggressive on the incentive side with the state … and will be far less expensive than Austin because we don’t tax the equipment that will be two-thirds the cost of the project,” he explained.

He also pointed out that this area has good workforce solutions, noting that area colleges, including Genesee Community College, and Genesee Valley BOCES are building degree programs for high-tech industry.

“These big projects that we’re talking about, whether it’s a big renewable project or semiconductor, (they’re) huge power users,” Hyde said. “They want green power and we’ve got the New York Power Authority and we’ve got Niagara Falls less than 30 miles away. We have some of the lowest-cost green energy available in all of North America – like half of what it costs in Austin.

“So, you look at power, you look at operating costs, our labor is about 10 percent cheaper than Austin right now because the market has run up so much. Those factors are a huge part of the cost profile of running an operation like this.”

Hyde’s comments come in the face of a story in the Buffalo-based Investigative Post that indicates Samsung is leaning toward Austin as the site for the microchip factory that would employ about 1,800 people.

According to the Investigative Post report:

• Austin “appears to have a leg up, as it is already home to Samsung Austin Semiconductor, which has 2,500 employees;

• Samsung has purchased 250 acres of land next to its existing facility and has applied for zoning variances, and is seeking more than $1 billion in incentives to build there. It quoted Nate Jensen, a professor at the University of Texas-Austin, as saying Samsung’s odds of expanding there are “north of 90 percent.”

• Roger Kay, a market analyst with Boston-based Endpoint Technologies Associates, said that Austin has “the inside track” and suggested other sites, including STAMP, “are most likely involved to help the company drive up the value of incentives in Austin.”

Hyde remains optimistic, stating:

“We’ve been eating this elephant a bite at a time as capital becomes available. You know what, though, we’re finally just now arriving at the season where we built the initial pieces of the infrastructure for the site and we can accommodate smaller projects. But we’ve got all of the big infrastructure fully designed, fully permitted and fully ready to build … and now the big projects are inside that window.”

Press release:

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer yesterday (Jan. 27) followed up on his efforts to secure a provision in the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act to boost American-based semiconductor manufacturing by reaching out directly to Samsung, which is interested in possibly locating their new plant in Genesee County.

He called Senior Vice President of Samsung Device Solutions Joe Herr and other top brass about the Genesee Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park -- STAMP -- in Alabama and expressed his strong support for the project coming to Western New York.

Samsung is currently considering the STAMP campus, as well as several other locations in other states, for its semiconductor fabrication (“fab”) plant – with 1,900 jobs – that the company plans to open late next year. Samsung’s Device Solutions division includes Samsung’s Global Semiconductor Foundry business. 

“This Samsung project is an exciting and a potential game changer for the region," Schumer said. "I made it clear to Samsung that I strongly support locating their planned 1,900 worker state-of-the-art semiconductor chip fab at the shovel-ready STAMP site in Genesee County. I know firsthand that STAMP is shovel-ready – and that, combined with Upstate New York’s robust semiconductor industry, make Genesee the perfect location for Samsung’s new chip fab.

World-class WNY Workforce

"Our world-class Western New York workforce combined with New York’s considerable experience in semiconductor manufacturing and R&D means STAMP is tailor-made to be the home for Samsung’s new facility. I stand ready to help Samsung harness all that the federal government has to offer to continue to lead the tech industry and position New York as a global hub of semiconductor manufacturing.

“When I stood at STAMP in August to announce my proposal to create the first-ever new federal semiconductor manufacturing and R&D incentives program, I said it could put sites like Western New York’s STAMP in contention for landing a new semiconductor manufacturing plant and the thousands of new jobs that come with it.

"This game-changer proposal passed into law last month and already companies like Samsung are considering STAMP for a 1,900 job chip fab plant, partly because of this new federal initiative. Now, I will work to secure this federal investment and offer my all-out support and advocacy in helping STAMP compete for this multi-billion-dollar plant.” 

Schumer has long championed the Genesee site and toured STAMP in August, and knows firsthand how ideal the campus would be as home for Samsung’s new chip fab. Schumer explained to Samsung that he, alongside the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCECC), New York State, and Western New York officials, worked for a decade to help ensure that it was shovel-ready for a semiconductor facility.

WNY Offers: Low Utility Costs, Transportation Networks, Supplies Access, Brain Power

“The STAMP campus, sitting on 1,250 acres of land between Buffalo and Rochester, New York’s second and third largest metros, respectively, with a 1.2 million person world-class workforce, is specifically designed for large-scale fabs and provides maximum flexibility in layout and infrastructure connections,” Schumer said.

"Additionally, the senator pointed out many cost and infrastructure advantages to the STAMP campus location, including low utility costs, access to existing transportation networks, access to New York state’s existing chip fab supply chain ecosystem, and 62 colleges, universities, and community colleges within a two-hour drive of the site including Cornell University, University at Buffalo, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Rochester, Genesee Community College.

Schumer said Samsung is relying on his legislation to building new fabs like this one in the United States. In fact, Schumer pointed out, the United States has gone from producing 24 percent of the world’s semiconductors in 2000, to just 12 percent while China, by comparison, has gone from producing zero chips to 16 percent of the world’s supply because the United States is not matching the investments that other competing nations are making in order to land new job-creating semiconductor chip fabs.

The senator's first-ever legislation will reverse this imbalance and level the playing field for companies like Samsung to build new chip fabs in the United States. For the first-time Schumer’s legislation will provide federal incentives to semiconductor chip fabs to build in the United States.

U.S. Reliance on Foreign-made Microelectronics Could Pose 'Huge Risks'

Upon passage of his legislation last month in the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act Schumer said his legislation is vital. He noted that even though the United States revolutionized the microelectronic industry and invented nearly all of the key technology used to this day, by 2030, non-U.S. competitors are projected to control 83 percent of the global semiconductor manufacturing supply while domestic production could be less than 10 percent, threatening U.S. reliance on foreign-made microelectronics, which could pose huge risks to U.S. national and economic security.

In a recent meeting with the Commerce Secretary nominee, Governor Gina Raimondo, Schumer raised the urgent need to fully fund and implement the new Commerce semiconductor manufacturing grant program he passed into law as part of last year’s defense authorization, pointing to this Samsung investment as an example for why these federal incentives are such a high priority. Federal incentives are critical to the United States successfully competing with other countries, including China, for new semiconductor manufacturing investment like the proposed Samsung facility.

Schumer, in addition to paving the way for future federal incentives for investment into domestic semiconductor manufacturing previously brought STAMP to the attention of the Department of Defense, urging the agency to work with the semiconductor industry to expand the domestic supply of chips and other microelectronics.

STAMP is Made Specifically for What Samsung Needs

STAMP is specifically designed for development of large-scale semiconductor manufacturing. The 1,250 acre mega site can accommodate large advanced manufacturing operations with its expansive space for several plants.

Schumer has also previously lobbied the Board of Directors of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) to put STAMP on their map and pitched SIA’s 18 semiconductor industry CEOs to look to expand their operations in Upstate New York at sites like STAMP in Genesee County.

In 2017 Schumer helped secure Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval of Empire Pipeline Inc.’s revised and extended PILOT agreement with Genesee County, the proceeds of which were needed to finance new water infrastructure at STAMP.

In 2016 Schumer began assisting STAMP secure necessary U.S. Fish and Wildlife right-of-way permits to construct new infrastructure hook-ups to STAMP. In 2012, Schumer successfully advocated on behalf of STAMP by calling on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide necessary wetlands permit assurances so that STAMP's developers could proceed with developing the site.

South Korean technology company Samsung is reportedly eyeing WNY STAMP, along with two locations in Texas, for the construction of a $13 billion chip manufacturing plant.

Citing The Wall Street Journal (paywall), The Hill reports, Samsung aims to become the leader in the $400 billion industry and needs a plant in the Uniited States to make that happen.

Sen. Charles Schumer was in Alabama in August to discuss a congressional push to increase semiconductor manufacturing in the United States as a matter of national defense. The National Defense Authorization Act has not yet been funded.

The Hill reports that Samsung is looking to negotiate with federal officials for financial incentives to build the plant in the United States because it would be cheaper to develop its product in other parts of the world. 

Reportedly, Samsung’s goal is to have a chip-making plant operational by October 2022 and to employ 1,900 people.