YOUNG OP-ED: CHIPS Act tech hubs will open the floodgates for 9,000 jobs in Indiana

The following column by Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) was originally published in the Indianapolis Star.

Todd Young: CHIPS Act tech hubs will open the floodgates for 9,000 jobs in Indiana

If you have heard of the CHIPS and Science Act, you are probably familiar with how it is bringing our domestic semiconductor industry — long dormant — back to life.

Reshoring chip production on American soil is important for both our economy and national security.

Since this bill, which I co-wrote, became law two years ago, $450 billion in new private sector investment in semiconductors has been announced across the country, creating an estimated 56,000 jobs. That includes the jobs coming to Indiana at the new SK hynix facility in West Lafayette and several defense-related chip projects in Southern Indiana near Crane.

But while the “CHIPS” portion of this law may provide the sizzle, the “and Science” components are the steak. And Indiana just landed itself a porterhouse.

The U.S. has the most innovative researchers in the world, but federal support for this critical R&D has fallen consistently over the decades, giving our rivals a foothold. When we were competing with the Soviets for technological supremacy during the Cold War, America invested nearly 2% of GDP in research and development. Today, we’re in a similar competition with Communist China, but our R&D investment has shrunk to an insufficient 0.6%.

If we continue to neglect research into emerging tech, China could very well surpass us, making us less secure both economically and militarily.

That’s why the investments in the CHIPS and Science Act are essential. The law includes funding for regional technology hubs, which will position regions across the country to be global centers for the research, development and manufacturing of key technologies of the future.

Had the law given a blank check to unelected bureaucrats in Washington, these critical research dollars would flow only to the coasts where elites tend to think all innovation happens. Instead, the law required regional technology hub funding to be geographically diverse.

Scientific advancement is happening all over the country. And Indiana, in particular, is punching way above its weight when it comes to this innovative work.

Our research institutions (like Purdue, IU, and Notre Dame), our private companies (Lilly, Corteva, Elanco to name a few), and even our nonprofit ecosystem (Applied Research Institute, BioCrossroads, AgriNovis) are all aligned toward creating high-paying jobs in the field of biotechnology and life sciences — the types of jobs that will give young Hoosiers exciting career options right here at home.

We have the infrastructure. But a stamp of approval — and a down payment — from the federal government would signal to the rest of the world that Indiana is open for business when it comes to biotech.

Earlier this month, we got that down payment when the Department of Commerce funded 12 regional “tech hubs” as part of a program our legislation created. This was an intense competition. There were 370 applicants from across the country. Indiana’s Heartland BioWorks received the largest award in the country — $51 million.

That $51 million will open the floodgates of private investment in the Hoosier State. The best estimates say it will spur $2.6 billion in additional economic output and create 9,000 new jobs over a decade. Some of that cash will be divvied up among promising Indiana startups. Another portion will be used to train more workers to fill those jobs.

When the U.S. invested heavily in science during the Cold War, it brought forth countless innovations that improved our quality of life — from the internet to hepatitis vaccines. A 21st century R&D surge will bring countless more products, technologies, and treatments that will improve our quality of life.

Thanks to the CHIPS and Science Act, Indiana will help lead the way.