Intel announces $18M distributed to colleges for chips programs as Biden visits Ohio

Intel is expected to announce that it has distributed nearly $18 million to colleges and universities in Ohio to start education and workforce development programs focused on semiconductors as part of President Biden’s visit to the groundbreaking of a new factory on Friday, according to a senior White House official. 

The official said Intel will announce that $17.7 million has gone to colleges and universities as part of a planned $50 million grant program that will invest in education and research programs in Ohio. 

“This includes partnering with community colleges across Ohio, the state’s oldest historically Black university, and other institutions to train thousands of workers to work in Ohio’s growing semiconductor industry,” the senior White House official said.

Biden is traveling to Ohio Friday to deliver remarks at the groundbreaking of a new Intel semiconductor manufacturing plant outside of Columbus and highlight the impact of a bipartisan law passed earlier this year that directs $52 billion to the domestic semiconductor industry. 

The groundbreaking of the factory had initially been planned for July, but Intel delayed it amid uncertainty over whether the chips legislation would pass. The Senate and House finally hammered out an agreement on the legislative text that passed both chambers over the summer and Biden signed it into law in August.

The law, formally known as the CHIPS and Science Act, provides $52 billion in grants and other incentives for the domestic semiconductor industry.

The bill also boosts funding for the National Science Foundation, which is matching a separate $50 million pledge from Intel for a national funding initiative for education and workforce programs. 

The chips law is one of a handful of accomplishments that Biden will promote in the coming weeks as he traverses the country ahead of the November midterm elections. 

In traveling to Ohio, Biden will visit a state that twice voted for former President Trump and looks increasingly red. But Democrats are focused on a number of important races in the state, not least of them is the contest to fill the Senate seat being vacated by outgoing GOP Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio). 

Polls show Democratic nominee Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) with an edge over Republican nominee J.D. Vance, but the race is expected to be tight.