Contractor, IBEW Celebrate Tech Plant Groundbreaking

Syracuse Local 43 member and contractor Shawni Davis featured prominently in the presidential announcement on constructing a massive Micron computer chip plant in upstate New York.

“Because of the commitment to domestic microchip manufacturing in the CHIPS Act, this plan represents rebirth,” Davis said in her introduction of President Biden. “Rebirth of American innovation, of American-made silicon chips that are the heart of so many devices we use daily. It means hope for the future and good paying construction and manufacturing jobs for years.”

Micron Technology’s announcement it would spend $100 billion on a Syracuse-area computer chip campus was years in the making, involving Local 43, building trades leaders, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), among others. Micron’s investment, spurred by the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, will usher in an estimated 9,000 jobs in an area decimated by decades of shutdowns. The legislation provides $52 billion in federal investment to help revive the U.S. semiconductor industry across the supply chain.

“This is part of a broader story about the economy we’re building — one that works for everyone that positions America to win the economic competition of the 21st century,” President Biden said. “And by the way, it’s the largest investment in American history governed by a project labor agreement.”

Davis cited Biden’s promise to manufacture goods in the United States again — and his commitment to reaching across the aisle to invest in rebuilding and modernizing the country’s infrastructure.

 

“Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, just like the rest of the country today, central New York is rebuilding,” Davis said. “These projects also come with some of the strongest worker protections we’ve ever seen -- because President Biden knows that we don’t just need more jobs. We need more middle-class, union jobs.”

In New York, one-time household names like General Electric (GE), Alcoa, General Motors (GM), and Kodak shuttered plants in recent decades, leaving the area with high unemployment and a shrinking population. The Biden administration is ramping up efforts to produce more in America, with plans to send goods – not jobs – overseas.

“I am exceptionally proud that Micron noticed our history and chose Central New York as the best place to make such a globally relevant investment,” said Local 43 Business Manager Alan Marzullo. “I am also incredibly proud of the work of our local, county, state, and federal partners, who came together to land this monumental project.”