CHIPS Act Check List for Materials Companies & Info Slides

San Diego, CA, September 28, 2022

A. Frequently, check on the following websites for information

  1. www.chips.gov
  2. www.Grants.gov
  3. www.federalregister.gov
  4. www.Regulations.gov – this site was mentioned at our last meeting though it is not directly connected to CHIPS Act. However, regulations must be taken into consideration when constructing chemical facilities.
  5. https://www.commerce.gov (Department of Commerce) – this site is used for news and info on government actions. Also, check out: https://www.commerce.gov/news/blog/2022/09/chips-america-webinar-series
  6. You may also want to register with https://sam.gov to register your company with the US government

B. Consider hiring external capability (e.g. lobbyist, professional grant writer, attorney, etc.) to contact various people within the Department of Commerce to get to know and provide inputs to criteria and decision making, where possible.

  1. In particular: At the Department of Commerce, Michael Schmidt will serve as Director of the CHIPS Program Office. There are no specific people yet assigned to support the supply-chain side of the CHIPS Act, but that is in the works.
  2. For the R&D side of the CHIPS Act, you can have your lobbyist meet with Eric Lin who will serve as Interim Director of the CHIPS Research and Development Office, and Todd Fisher who will serve as Interim Senior Advisor in the CHIPS Program Office, housed within NIST.
  3. Latest press release on people in charge of CHIPS so far: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/20/biden-harris-administration-announces-chips-for-america-leadership/
  4. We do not have any recommendations for lobbyists and only know of one organization: Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies, www.cozen.com The person who spoke at our Advisory Alert webinar was Madison Smith, MadisonSmith@cozen.com https://www.cozen.com/people/bios/smith-madison

C. Work with state and city governments to put in place a plan from which you can execute building a new plant or plant expansion. It is our understanding that the federal government wants funding-applicants to have ready-to-go plans in place. That is, companies that have already spoken to state and local government people, invested in land, and have drawn up plans and permits will be looked at more favorably. So, companies like Chang Chun that have already bought land in Arizona and made deals with the city of Casa Grande may be more successful at getting funding than a company that hasn’t taken all these steps.

D. Once the Federal Register releases the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), you will need to apply promptly and ensure you have completed due diligence work. Through your lobbyist efforts you should learn which parts of the proposal need to be covered more thoroughly and/or which parts are considered highly important. The lobbyist/consultant organization may be able to help you complete the application. If it is not completed correctly, the entire application can be thrown out.

Selected Slides from Webinar on CHIPS for America Strategy Paper Briefing by US Department of Commerce – 9/27/2022.
These slides provide some insight into what will be important to include when applying for CHIPS Act funding. Full Presentation will be “made available in the coming weeks” at www.chips.gov.

 


 

 

ABOUT TECHCET: TECHCET CA LLC is an advisory services firm expert in market and supply-chain analysis of electronic materials for the semiconductor, display, solar/PV, and LED industries. TECHCET offers consulting, subscription service, and reports, including the Critical Materials Council (CMC) of semiconductor fabricators and Data Subscription Service (DSS). For additional information, please contact info@cmcfabs.org, +1-480-332-8336, or go to www.techcet.com.