Overview

CHIPS and Science Act

Enacted into law in August 2022, the CHIPS and Science Act (“CHIPS Act”) authorized approximately $280 billion in spending over ten years to strengthen U.S. economic and national security by reducing dependence on foreign semiconductors. The program with the largest funding appropriation, the CHIPS for America Fund, is comprised of two components: the Manufacturing Incentive Program and Research and Development Program. Both programs are administered by the Department of Commerce through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”).

The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (“DECD”) will support interested applicants to develop a Connecticut CHIPS Consortium to advance applications to the Manufacturing Incentives Program. Consortium members will submit separate project-level applications, but all members will benefit from a shared semiconductor workforce development strategy guided by DECD.

Accessing State-Level Support in Connecticut

Connecticut DECD will advise interested CHIPS applicants on the following topics:

• CHIPS introduction and collaboration. DECD can provide an overview of CHIPS NOFO requirements and is recruiting interested applicants for a Connecticut CHIPS Consortium, a combination of private, public, and nonprofit entities which will foster a regional semiconductor cluster.
• Workforce development strategy. Interested applicants can utilize DECD’s statewide guidance on fostering a semiconductor workforce pipeline, and our team can review required workforce development sections of CHIPS project applications to support a project’s specific workforce development needs.
• Covered incentives. Job quality, workforce development, and infrastructure needs are high-priority considerations for DECD, which will serve as the state’s CHIPS concierge to support applicants pursuing local- or state-level covered incentives and create contingent incentives packages where possible.