Governor Kathy Hochul Awards $115 Million to Build Advanced Semiconductor Packaging Center in Utica

UTICA, N.Y. — Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Monday the allocation of $115 million in state capital grants through Empire State Development's FAST-NY program to construct an advanced 3D semiconductor packaging and microelectronics testing facility at the Marcy Nanocenter in Oneida County.

The 120,000-square-foot facility, developed in partnership with SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Wolfspeed, and GlobalFoundries, addresses the critical domestic supply chain bottleneck in advanced chip packaging, where silicon wafers fabricated in the United States have historically been shipped overseas to Asia for dicing, wire bonding, and substrate packaging.

Securing the Upstate New York Semiconductor Superhub Upstate New York has become the national anchor for semiconductor manufacturing, with major investments including Micron Technology's $100 billion mega-fab in Clay, Wolfspeed's silicon carbide fab in Marcy, and GlobalFoundries in Malta.

"New York is establishing itself as the global capital of semiconductor innovation and manufacturing," Governor Hochul said at SUNY Poly in Utica. "We cannot secure our nation's chip supply chain if we make the silicon here but rely on foreign nations to package it. This $115 million investment at Marcy Nanocenter builds the advanced packaging infrastructure needed to complete the entire microchip lifecycle right here in the Mohawk Valley, creating 800 high-wage high-tech careers."

Cleanroom Capacities and Workforce Partnerships The state grant funds:

• ISO Class 4 Cleanroom Facilities: Constructing 45,000 square feet of vibration-isolated cleanroom space with automated robotic wafer handlers.
• 3D Heterogeneous Integration Lines: Equipping state-of-the-art thermal compression bonding and through-silicon via (TSV) lithography tools.
• Mohawk Valley Community College Apprenticeships: A $15 million dedicated training endowment providing tuition-free technician certifications for local high school and military veteran graduates.

Regional economic development councils and federal defense officials praised the announcement, emphasizing that domestic advanced packaging capability is vital to national defense electronics and automotive supply chain security.