Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

President Joe Biden is set to announce Thursday that upstate New York will be one of four new Investing in America “Workforce Hubs.”

The upstate New York hub, which will focus on semiconductor manufacturing, is part of the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to connect workers with jobs created by Biden’s Investing in America agenda — which includes the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

“I worked with the Biden administration to make Syracuse one of only a handful of locations around the country designated as a workforce hub and that’s going to deliver assistance to companies, educational institutions, labor unions to build a pipeline of workers to fill in the thousands of good paying jobs being created,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a Wednesday press conference.

Biden will announce the hubs when he visits Syracuse to highlight a $6.1 billion preliminary agreement with Micron Technology under the CHIPS and Science Act, according to a Wednesday press release. Biden last visited the city in October 2022 after the announcement of the Micron facility. The investment will support the construction of the semiconductor plant in Clay — just 10 minutes from Syracuse.

Schumer said “major funding” from the CHIPS announcement will help support workforce improvement efforts as well as highlight Micron’s leadership and investment in workers throughout central New York.

Micron’s investment will bring 50,000 jobs to the state with 9,000 jobs at the plant and 40,000 spinoff jobs within the community, according to its website. The complex is predicted to employ about 1,300 people at an average salary of $98,000 in filings with Onondaga County, syracuse.com reported.

Micron will also leverage Registered Apprenticeship programs to support “underrepresented individuals” on a pathway to well-paying careers, according to a Wednesday press release. In addition to its partnership with the Manufacturers Association of Central New York, Micron will work with the American Federation of Teachers, the state, New York affiliates and teachers to develop a semiconductor “training framework” based on foundational and technical skills needed for the industry.

“This is a historic moment for semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S.,” Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said in a statement sent to The Daily Orange. “Micron’s leading-edge memory is foundational to meeting the growing demands of artificial intelligence, and we are proud to be making significant memory manufacturing investments in the U.S., which will create many high-tech jobs.”

The other new “Workforce Hubs” include Michigan, Milwaukee and Philadelphia, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian said in the press conference. The new hubs will join inaugural hubs in Columbus, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Augusta and Phoenix, which First Lady Jill Biden announced in May 2023.

“These initiatives by the President and the jobs and opportunities they are creating in communities are exactly what the President means when he talks about building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up,” Quillian said.

Biden’s message to Syracuse will address other investments in the Syracuse region, such as a $180 million federal grant for its Interstate 81 Viaduct Project, which was announced in March, according to the press release.

“People will be coming to Syracuse, not leaving Syracuse, to get good paying jobs,” Schumer said. “It’s writing a new chapter for places like Syracuse and for upstate New York.”

Published on April 25, 2024 at 5:00 am

Contact Kendall: kaluther@syr.edu