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Greetings and Happy Halloween friends, family, and my fellow constituents! Thanks as always for tuning into our office's newsletter.
Despite the winter rains descending upon the Willamette Valley our state's economic outlook is brighter than ever as the result of our historic economic development investments.
Just last week the United States Department of Commerce announced recipients of the federal Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs Program. The Hub Program is a component of the CHIPS and Science Act with $10 Billion in authorized spending over the next five years and $500 million available this fiscal year. Two of the thirty-one designated hubs are located in Oregon and will now compete for tens of millions in federal funding:
(1) Corvallis Microfluidics Tech Hub to advance technology in microfluidics that are essential for semiconductor and electronic cooling, with additional application in the bioscience industry;
(2) Pacific Northwest Mass Timber to develop technologies and processes for large scale production of "mass timber," which stands to provide building materials as durable as concrete but with significantly less carbon emissions.
A secondary component of the Tech Hub program is the awarding of Strategy Development Grant (SDG) Recipients that will receive assistance to increase local coordination and planning activities to prepare for the next round of Tech Hub awards. Pacific Northwest Smart Energy Strategy Consortium was awarded such a designation and is working to develop regional solutions and innovation in smart energy storage that will better integrate renewable energy sources into the utility grid.
These announcements follow a series of other monumental wins for Oregon as we compete to attract billions in federal funding for economic development. Earlier this month the United States Department of Energy designated the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Association’s PNWH2 Hub as a Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub. This hub stretches across Oregon and Washington and the project could receive up to $1 billion in federal funding.
Lastly, Intel announced new investment and job creation for its operations in Oregon pending investment through the Federal CHIPS Act. Intel was recently announced as a recipient of the Oregon CHIPS Fund ($90 million), and while details on the company's investments are still TBD it is possible that Oregon will receive investments on par with the tens of billions Intel has invested in fabrication ("fab") projects in Ohio and Arizona.
Thank you as always for supporting me and finding ways to connect with me. I promise to continue to give you my best. As always, please send your thoughts to me at: Rep.JanelleBynum@oregonlegislature.gov.
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