On December 5, the US Department of Commerce finalized grants under the CHIPS Incentives Program's Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication Facilities, directing significant investments to Absolics and Entegris. Absolics, an affiliate of South Korea-based SKC, will receive up to US$75 million, while Entegris is set to receive up to US$77 million.
These awards follow preliminary memoranda of terms signed earlier this year and the Department's due diligence completion. The funding will be distributed based on project milestone achievements.
The investment in Absolics will support the construction of a 120,000-square-foot facility in Covington, Georgia, dedicated to developing advanced packaging substrate technology. Absolics' glass substrates aim to enhance the performance of cutting-edge chips used in AI, high-performance computing, and data centers by reducing power consumption and system complexity.
This project is anticipated to generate approximately 1,200 jobs spanning construction, manufacturing, and research and development, bolstering domestic supply chains for advanced packaging materials currently dominated by Asian markets.
Entegris' award will facilitate the establishment of a state-of-the-art manufacturing center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This facility will focus on onshoring critical semiconductor supply chain materials and producing liquid filtration products and Front-Opening Unified Pods (FOUPs), specialized containers essential for semiconductor wafer handling during manufacturing.
The center, expected to begin operations in 2025, is projected to create around 900 jobs and strengthen the supply chain for US-based chip production.
US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo highlighted the grants as part of the Biden-Harris Administration's broader strategy to bolster the semiconductor supply chain and enhance US economic and national security. "As a result of these investments, the states of Colorado and Georgia will play an important role in revitalizing the US semiconductor industry while creating thousands of jobs in the process," she said.
Arati Prabhakar, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, underscored the strategic importance of the facilities. "These new facilities will develop cutting-edge technologies essential to US semiconductor leadership. And that means that as they create good-paying jobs supporting families, they will bolster our national security and strengthen our economy," she noted.
With the stable securing of funding, SKC will be able to proceed smoothly with the planned commercialization of the glass substrate. The company will continue to promote research and development to maintain a technological edge based on its glass substrate technology, said an SKC spokesperson.
Entegris president and CEO Bertrand Loy expressed pleasure in receiving the important funding to strengthen the US semiconductor industry infrastructure. He noted that this financial support further expands the company's ability to meet its customers' critical needs while contributing back to the local economy in Colorado Springs.
