■ Supply Chain
Continued From Page 9 New Jersey Gov . Phil Murphy , who heads the national governors ’ association , hailed the legislation for supporting American innovation and global competitiveness and accelerating research and development in semiconductor production . Kennedy said the industry must now make certain the legislation is fully funded .
“ Let ’ s figure it out and work together , instead of demeaning people ,” Kennedy said . “ We have to recognize the fact that we haven ’ t invested in our infrastructure at all and our infrastructure includes manufacturing .”
The thrust of the legislation is for semiconductors . It will supply $ 39 billion in financial assistance to build , expand or modernize U . S . plants and equipment for semiconductor fabrication , assembly , testing , advancing packaging or research and development . The legislation is administered through the Department of Commerce and it also earmarks $ 11 billion specifically for research and development . It will create a public-private partnership to conduct research and prototyping , as well as investing in new technologies and expand workforce training .
The NJMEP head called the legislation “ ground breaking for manufacturing .” But he said the legislation “ does not stop there ” because it provides significant support
John W . Kennedy , Ph . D ., CEO of the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program ( NJMEP ).
Continued On Page 12
During the Pandemic , difficulty in obtaining computer chips and the materials to create them held NJ manufacturers back . NJMEP is working to put the state in a position to create these chips domestically .
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