Three-quarters of $1B headed to North Carolina manufacturer

[mountaineer]

Three-quarters of $1B headed to North Carolina manufacturer
By Alan Wooten | The Center Square
October 16, 2024 7:49 am
Washington Examiner

Silicon carbide power solutions company Wolfspeed, headquartered in North Carolina, has a tentative memorandum of understanding to get three-quarters of $1 billion from the Biden administration.

Wolfspeed, in Durham, has been battling losses and a price share down 71%. Still, it remains an American market leader and challenged by Chinese competitors.

The infusion of $750 million in direct funding would “support the construction of a new silicon carbide wafer manufacturing facility in Siler City, helping to secure a reliable domestic supply of the semiconductors that will underpin the future energy economy and AI boom,” a release from U.S. Department of Commerce said.

A device manufacturing facility in Marcy, N.Y., is also growing with the investment attached to the CHIPS and Science Act. The Commerce Department said the projects together will create more than 2,000 manufacturing jobs and 3,000 construction jobs. ...

I wonder how much Wolfspeed CEO Gregg Lowe had to kick back.

[mountaineer]

Commerce Dept. does a little bolstering of Kommiela, as if she had anything to do with this.

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Preliminary Terms with Wolfspeed to Solidify U.S. Technological Leadership in Silicon Carbide Manufacturing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Office of Public Affairs
https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2024/10/biden-harris-administration-announces-preliminary-terms-wolfspeed

Proposed CHIPS Investment of up to $750 Million Would Support Construction of World’s Largest Silicon Carbide 200mm Ecosystem and Create Over 5,000 Jobs in North Carolina and New York 

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce and Wolfspeed, Inc. have signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) to provide up to $750 million in proposed direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act. The proposed funding would support the construction of a new silicon carbide wafer manufacturing facility in Siler City, North Carolina, helping to secure a reliable domestic supply of the semiconductors that will underpin the future energy economy and AI boom. President Biden and Vice President Harris championed the CHIPS and Science Act, a key component of the Administration’s Investing in America agenda, to usher in a new era of semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, bringing with it a revitalized domestic supply chain, good-paying jobs, and investments in the industries of the future. In addition to Wolfspeed’s North Carolina project, the proposed CHIPS investment is expected to catalyze its planned expansion of its device manufacturing facility in Marcy, New York. The projects together are estimated to create over 2,000 manufacturing jobs and 3,000 construction jobs and are part of the company’s previously announced more than $6 billion capacity expansion plan.  ...

[Smokin Joe]

Spruce Pine NC has the deposits they are looking for. Not Lithium, but silica. North and East of Asheville, as the crow flies about halfway between Asheville and Boone.

Maybe all the "conspiracy theories" about lax federal response for mineral deposits have truth to them.