Senator discusses Indiana's chance to attract advanced manufacturing

 

Indiana will see $33 million of investment from the Department of Defense to establish a research, development, and workforce training hub for microelectronics manufacturing.

Indiana's proposal, The Silicon Crossroads, is one of eight hubs chosen 's $240 million commitment to establish eight regional innovation hubs across the United States.

Governor Eric Holcomb joining the Indiana Economic Development Foundation in Goshen, Wednesday, celebrated the announcement.

"When you talk about microelectronic, or hypersonics, these areas that we are leaning into," Gov. Holcomb said. "You have to be able to operate at a speed of business and be nimble. And what Indiana has proven in the Midwest is we pop off the map."

It's part of the first round of funding comes out of the CHIPS & Science Act, championed by Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), who believes the state needs to continue investing in education to attract these projects.

"We need to just collectively as Hoosiers, make sure that we have the workforce necessary," Sen. Young said. "If we have the workforce that is ready to plug and play into any new project that may be coming online the sky's the limit when it comes to recruiting new high-tech companies that will offer good paying jobs into our state."

Indiana has also submitted a proposal for a federal tech hub designation under the CHIPS Act, which could bring another $50-75 million investment to advance semiconductor development and research.