The grant award from the Biden Administration will fund 100 manufacturing positions at the tech company.
HP Inc. will get $53 million to expand and modernize its Corvallis facilities as part of the federal CHIPS and Science Act.
The Biden Administration announced the grant award Monday. President Joe Biden has made reviving the U.S. semiconductor industry a priority of his administration.
On Tuesday, state and company officials and members of Oregon’s Congressional delegation attended an event Tuesday in Corvallis to celebrate the funding, according to The Salem Statesman Journal.
“This proposed investment provides HP with an opportunity to modernize and expand our facility to further invest in our microfluidics technology, which is the study of the behavior and control of fluid on a microscopic scale,” HP CEO Enrique Lores is quoted as saying.
The funds will aid HP’s efforts to manufacture silicon devices in life science lab equipment for medical research, according to a statement from the Biden administration. The expansion project will create more than 100 manufacturing positions and 150 temporary construction jobs.
“Companies like HP are developing the technologies that will spur unprecedented breakthroughs for generations to come,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo writes in a statement. “By investing in companies and research and development projects across the semiconductor ecosystem, the Biden-Harris administration is helping to build and secure the domestic semiconductor capabilities that will help the United States continue to outcompete and out-build the rest of the world.”
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The 2022 law has provided $52.7 billion in total funding for research, development, manufacturing and workforce development. Hillsboro-based Intel was awarded $8 billion in CHIPS funding.
HP has been in Oregon for nearly 50 years. The company developed its inkjet printer at its Corvallis facility. HP partners with Oregon State University on research, manufacturing and internship programs.
“Oregon is a leader in the semiconductor industry because of our world class talent and strong partnerships with higher education,” Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement. “We are uniquely positioned to enhance national security by helping to grow the country’s semiconductor industry.”
With more than 30,000 workers, Oregon is home to 9% of the country’s semiconductor workforce. In 2022, more than 200 businesses engaged in the semiconductor industry exported nearly $15 billion of product.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that state officials have prioritized pursuing federal funds to boost the chip industry. The Legislature even passed its own, $200-million version of the CHIPS Act. Under the law, called Oregon CHIPS, companies that receive federal CHIPS money are eligible for supplemental grants from the state. Last year, HP was awarded $9.5 million from the state for the Corvallis expansion project.
The funding was announced in August when HP signed a memorandum of understanding with the federal government. The company must still complete several project milestones to receive the money.
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