$407 million CHIPS Act package finalized for Arizona semiconductor packaging company

PHOENIX — An Arizona-based semiconductor manufacturer is getting total of $407 million to fund a new Peoria facility, according to officials.

The finalized funding to support Amkor Technology Arizona, Inc. comes from the federal government via the CHIPS and Science Act.

“This finalized agreement with Amkor brings another critical piece of the microchip supply chain back to our shores and cements Arizona’s position as a global leader in microchip packaging and innovation,” Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly said in a news release from last week.

The company is a subsidiary of Amkor Technology, Inc., the largest outsourced semiconductor assembly and test company based in the U.S.

What will Arizona-based semiconductor manufacturer do?

The award of $407 million will directly support the company’s investment of around $2 billion in creating an advanced packaging and test facility in Peoria.

Amkor Technology Arizona’s future facility is expected to create more than 4,000 jobs in Arizona, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Half of those jobs will be in manufacturing, while the others reflect the construction jobs that will be filled at the peak of the facility’s construction.

How will Arizona-based semiconductor manufacturer get the money?

The U.S. Department of Commerce will release the funds as the company meets different milestones in its Peoria facility construction project.

“With Amkor’s cutting-edge facility in Peoria, we’re not only creating thousands of good-paying jobs but also ensuring that critical technologies like artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles are powered by chips made and packaged right here in the U.S.,” Kelly said.

He sees the upcoming facility as a way to establish Arizona as a domestic manufacturing hub for semiconductors, which are used used in chips that make computers work, along with cellphones, fighter jets, self-driving cars, artificial intelligence and even ovens.

Investments like this put Arizona in the position to emerge as a global hub for research, development, testing, manufacturing and packaging of micro electrics, he added.

“These investments are a testament to the CHIPS Act’s success in strengthening our supply chains, boosting national security, and solidifying America’s leadership in the global semiconductor industry,” Kelly said.