This proposed funding would provide federal incentives to enhance production capabilities at SkyWater’s Minnesota facility and will help accelerate modernisation and equipment upgrades to enhance production for customers in the aerospace and defence as well as biomedical, industrial, thermal imaging and quantum computing markets.
As a Department of Defense (DOD) DMEA Category 1A Trusted Supplier, SkyWater is a key semiconductor supplier to the US government and is committed to providing the lab-to-fab capabilities needed to support the nation’s defence programs.
The proposed $16 million CHIPS Program award will be combined with $19 million in incentives from the State of Minnesota’s Forward Fund. Both funding announcements complement SkyWater’s existing and planned customer-funded investments totalling $320 million through 2026, bringing the expected combined outside investment levels now to over $350 million during this decade.
SkyWater also said that it would look to utilise the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit which is expected to be up to 25% of qualified capital expenditures.
Through the proposed CHIPS funding, SkyWater said that it expects to:
- Increase its US-based 200 mm semiconductor technology development and production capacity by 30%
- Create approximately 70 new jobs to support the workforce in Bloomington, Minnesota
- Modernise its facility to meet the escalating demand for domestically produced microelectronics
- Ensure a consistent supply of trusted silicon for critical DOD and commercial programs
- Accelerate technology development and time to market for customers.
From the outset of the government plan to create a program to support the semiconductor industry, SkyWater has been working to bolster the supply of chips manufactured in the US.
The company is currently involved in many aspects of the CHIPS program, including lending expertise in substrates and process engineering for advanced packaging, underwriting workforce initiatives at the federal and local level, and participating as a core partner in the DOD’s Microelectronics Commons network to support warfighter applications.
