Schumer announces $18 million federal agreement with Edwards Vacuum at STAMP

File photo by Tom Rivers: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer holds a photo of a finished factory for Edwards Vacuum during a celebration on Aug. 6 in front of the company’s manufacturing facility that has been under construction since April.

Press Release, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer

TOWN OF ALABAMA – After announcing that Edwards Vacuum plans to build manufacturing facility in Western New York two years ago, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer today announced Edwards Vacuum has reached a $18 million preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) funding agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce under the CHIPS & Science Law he championed.

This proposed federal funding will support Edwards Vacuum’s plans to build its new $300+ million dry pump manufacturing facility for the semiconductor industry, the first of its kind in the country, as there is currently no domestic production of semiconductor-grade dry vacuum pumps.

“This investment will ensure an essential part of the semiconductor supply chain – that will be surging in demand – is made right here in Genesee County,” Schumer said. “I am proud to announce my CHIPS & Science Law is investing $18 million in Edwards Vacuum’s expansion in Western New York, creating the first dry pump vacuum manufacturing facility of its kind in America.”

Today’s proposed federal funding will support a planned $300+ million investment and 600+ good-paying jobs when the facility reaches full production capacity. Schumer explained all chip fabs need vacuum technology like what Edwards makes to power the sophisticated equipment and state-of-the-art machine tools needed to make microchips.

Those tools need and use vacuum pumps, like those that will now be made in Western New York, to manipulate the chip wafers to manufacture the finished microchips. By bringing manufacturing to New York, new chip fabs such as Micron and GlobalFoundries in New York, and Intel in Ohio can have access to critical dry pumps that will now be made in the U.S., offering chip producers shorter wait times, improved responsiveness, and reduced CO2 emissions from an American-made product.

This is the third agreement for a New York company from the CHIPS Incentives Program funded by Schumer’s CHIPS & Science Law. Earlier this year, Schumer announced that Micron, which plans to invest $100 billion over the next two decades – the largest private investment in New York’ s history – reached a $6.1 billion CHIPS PMT funding agreement.

In addition, GlobalFoundries in the Capital Region also reached an agreement for $1.5 billion in direct grant funding under his CHIPS  & Science Law to support a $12.5 billion public-private investment over the next ten plus years to expand and construct a second, new state-of-the-art computer chip factory in Malta, NY.

“This continued investment by the Biden administration is proof positive the value of our region as a ‘Tech Hub’ and America’s emerging semiconductor superhighway,” Schumer said. “Today, Edwards Vacuum’s plans to expand in Western NY move forward. And that dream becomes one step closer to becoming a reality thanks to my CHIPS & Science Law.”