Colorado Offers Millions in Incentives for Semiconductor Manufacturing Company

By: Emily Hollingsworth

A manufacturing company has agreed to build a facility for semiconductor production in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in exchange for millions of dollars in state and local tax incentives.

Entegris Inc. will construct a new facility in Colorado Springs to build products used in semiconductor manufacturing, a project for which the company expects to invest up to $600 million and create 600 jobs. In exchange, the company will receive approximately $119 million in incentives from the Colorado Economic Development Commission and from the city, according to a December 20 news release from the office of Gov. Jared Polis (D). The package "includes funding from the City of Colorado Springs, rebates from the Colorado Springs Utilities, the creation of a new Urban Renewal District, the Colorado Springs Chamber & Economic Development Corporation Deal Closing Fund among other sources," according to the release.

The release went on to say that Entegris's existing location in Colorado Springs and the recent passage of the federal Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science (CHIPS) Act (P.L. 117-167) were factors in the company's decision to build in the city.

Entegris said in a December 20 announcement that its investment would be “subject to receipt of appropriate approvals and state and local incentives.”

As part of the incentive package, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade is offering a Strategic Fund Job Growth Incentive of $6,500 per new job created over a five-year period, up to $3,880,500, according to the governor's release. That incentive would be contingent on Entegris “meeting net new job creation and salary requirements as well as local match incentives from El Paso County-based institutions, led by the Colorado Springs EDC and Chamber," the release said.

Colorado is the latest state to pledge incentives related to the semiconductor manufacturing industry.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) signed into law H.B. 1059 November 3, which allocates $115 million each year in tax credits for semiconductor manufacturing projects, along with clean hydrogen hub production, biomedical research, and milk processing.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) enacted similar legislation (S. 9467) August 11 to provide up to $500 million in tax credits for semiconductor manufacturing projects. She announced in October that Micron Technology Inc. would build a chip manufacturing plant in the state, for which the company expects to invest $100 billion and receive more than $5 billion in state, local, and federal tax incentives over the next 20 years.