Oregon Governor gives $1 million to help smaller businesses access CHIPS funds

Oregon is taking action that it hopes will help it obtain some of the $52 billion available for semiconductor manufacturing and research under the federal CHIPS and Science Act.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek announced a $1 million grant program that it hopes will help small and mid-sized Oregon businesses prepare “competitive applications” to obtain some of this federal funding, according to a press release from her office.

“Oregon is going to make the most of this historic opportunity – and that includes supporting the innovators who deserve access to the CHIPS Act funds and need support to navigate all of the federal requirements,” Kotek said in the release.

The state will fund the grand program using Business Oregon’s Strategic Reserve Fund.

Business Oregon is developing the final rules for the $1 million grant program. The funding will help private semiconductor firms in the state with costs related to preparing its application.

“The program will consider how applicants will serve historically underserved groups to create family-wage manufacturing jobs,” the press release from the governor’s office said.

The grant program is a part of the state’s strategy to obtain as much federal funding as possible from the CHIPS and Science Act.

Kotek’s recommended Fiscal Year 2024 budget includes $200 million to create an Opportunity Fund for “advanced manufacturing business expansion and recruitment,” especially for semiconductor firms capitalizing on CHIPS Act funding, according to the release.

“The national movement to expand domestic semiconductor production is great news for Oregon,” Governor Kotek said in the release. “We can and will continue to be a global leader in advanced manufacturing and semiconductor innovation.”

Additionally, Business Oregon plans to offer information sessions to Oregon businesses aimed at helping them maximize their federal CHIPS Act funding awards.

More information on Business Oregon’s CHIPS Act initiatives is available here.