ICYMI: Major Private Sector Manufacturing Announcements Prove President Biden's Invest in America Agenda is Working

Today, two private companies announced major manufacturing investments in the United States, showing that President Biden's Investing in America agenda is powering a clean energy and manufacturing boom which will grow the American economy, create good-paying jobs that Americans can raise a family on, and shore up American supply chains in industries such as semiconductors and solar power.

The Italian clean energy company, Enel, announced they're selecting Oklahoma for their $1 billion solar cell and panel manufacturing facility – which will be one of the largest solar facilities in the country and will create 1,800 construction jobs and up to 1,900 permanent jobs.

Applied Materials is also announcing today that they are investing up to $4 billion in a new research and development facility to advance semiconductor manufacturing and R&D in the United States. The announcement coincides with a visit to the company's facility by Vice President Kamala Harris.

These investments are just the latest proof that the Biden-Harris Administration's Investing in America agenda is revitalizing American manufacturing and growing the economy from the bottom-up and middle-out. According to an analysis by the Financial Times, in the 8 months following President Biden signing the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, companies have announced over $200 billion in manufacturing investments – particularly in semiconductors and clean energy.

Read coverage below:

Reuters: Italy's Enel to invest more than $1 billion in Oklahoma solar panel factory
[Nichola Groom, 5/22/23]

Italy's Enel SpA (ENEI.MI) said on Monday it will invest more than $1 billion in a solar cell and panel factory in Oklahoma, seeking to capitalize on a U.S. push to build a homegrown clean energy manufacturing sector to compete with China.

The facility will be among the largest to produce solar equipment in the United States, where most projects are built with imported panels. It is also one of the first U.S. factories to produce silicon-based solar cells on a large scale.

The investment is one of the biggest in solar manufacturing since the passage of U.S. President Joe Biden's landmark climate change law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), last year. Facilities built with panels containing domestically made cells may receive a lucrative IRA bonus tax credit worth 10% of a project's cost.

Enel, which had first said last year it planned to build a U.S. solar factory, selected a site in Inola, Oklahoma, near Tulsa. It will employ 1,000 people by 2025.

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In a statement, Biden said the Enel announcement was "the latest proof that my Investing in America agenda is working, and American manufacturing is back."

Tulsa World: Enel to build $1 billion solar panel plant at Tulsa Port of Inola
[Carmen Forman, 5/22/23]

An international green energy company will build a solar panel manufacturing facility at the Tulsa Port of Inola in what is being called the largest economic development project in state history.

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The Italian company expects to invest more than $1 billion in the new factory and create 1,000 new, permanent jobs by 2025. Enel says it may create another 900 jobs in a second phase of development.

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President Joe Biden said clean-energy and business-friendly policies from his administration helped pave the way for Enel's expansion in the U.S.

The Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act, which includes billions of dollars in subsidies to increase green energy development and encourage companies to build solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicle batteries in the U.S., spurred Enel officials to look at sites for a new factory, according to a company news release.

"Today's announcement from Enel is just the latest proof that my Investing in America agenda is working, and American manufacturing is back," Biden said in a statement. "Good-paying jobs that Americans can raise a family on are being created in towns and communities in every corner of the country."

Reuters: Applied Materials to invest $4 bln in Silicon Valley chip research center
[Jane Lee and Stephen Nellis, 5/22/23]

U.S. semiconductor toolmaker Applied Materials Inc (AMAT.O) on Monday said it plans to spend up to $4 billion on a research center in the heart of Silicon Valley to speed up advances in semiconductor manufacturing.

The center, which will be based in Sunnyvale, California, will come on line in 2026 and create up to 2,000 engineering jobs, said Applied, which is the world's biggest maker of the tools used in manufacturing chips.

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Applied Materials said the new facility, called the Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization (EPIC) Center, will be the size of more than three American football fields. Applied said it will invest in it over seven years and wants subsidies from the government through the CHIPS and Science Act.

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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to attend an Applied Materials' event in Silicon Valley announcing the center, along with top executives from major chip companies.

Senior administration officials briefing the media ahead of the event said the Commerce Department has received more than 300 statements of interest for the $39 billion portion of the CHIPS Act for manufacturing incentives. They said details on application requirements for $11 billion set aside for research facilities will come in the early fall.

CNET: $4 Billion Center Set to Speed Chip Progress for Phones, Cars and Everything Else
Vice President Kamala Harris plans to visit the Silicon Valley's Applied Materials on Monday to tout US processor manufacturing.
[Stephen Shankland, 5/22/23]

During the worst days of the pandemic, a chip shortage may have stopped you from buying a Ford F-150 or Sony PlayStation. Now some of the $53 billion in federal funds to try to ease the problem could help boost a new chip manufacturing research center in Silicon Valley.

Vice President Kamala Harris plans to visit Applied Materials on Monday as the chip manufacturing equipment supplier details a $4 billion investment center in California's high-tech hub for a 30% boost to the pace of processor manufacturing advancements. The $53 billion hasn't been doled out yet, but Applied Materials' new center is exactly the kind of US research and development facility it's designed to help.

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The pandemic induced chip shortage revealed global supply chain problems and showed just how much the United States economy relies on overseas manufacturing for arguably the most important components in just about everything with a battery or power plug. The result was the 2022 passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, with its $53 billion subsidy for chip research and manufacturing. So far, the Commerce Department has received 300 statements of interest from applicants hoping to tap into the funds.

Applied Materials' new 180,000-square-foot Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization Center is designed to speed up progress and anchor the industry in the US. At the EPIC Center, Applied Materials hopes to speed up both the adoption of new ideas from academia and their transfer to the companies like TSMC, Samsung and Intel that actually build the chips.

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The EPIC Center is expected to employ 1,500 construction workers when it's being built and to create 2,000 engineering jobs once it's up and running.