Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. discusses his push with Rep. Abigail Spanberger to bring another semiconductor chip manufacturing facility to Virginia.
Virginia’s congressional delegation, led by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, is pushing to make the state a national hub of semiconductor research under legislation that would deliver $52 billion to boost production of vital computer chips.
The delegation delivered a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on Thursday to pitch Virginia as the site of the National Semiconductor Technology Center and the National Advance Packaging Manufacturing Program, both part of competing bills that the Senate and House of Representatives are poised to reconcile for final passage.
The letter is signed by both Virginia senators and 11 congressional representatives, with strong backing back home from Henrico and Chesterfield counties, both prime locations for new semiconductor manufacturing plants to produce computer chips that power automobiles and a wide range of microelectronic products.
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“We are ready,” said Anthony Romanello, executive director of the Henrico Economic Development Authority, which boasts “shovel ready” sites at the White Oak Technology Park.
The initiative is driven by the CHIPS Act, part of a larger pending package of high-tech research aimed at making the U.S. more competitive with China in key markets. Semiconductor chips are central to that push because the U.S. currently produces only 12% of the world’s supply, which has become hard to reach for domestic auto manufacturers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These issues are at the heart of rising prices that are impacting Americans’ pocketbooks,” the delegation said in its letter to Raimondo. “Additionally, investing in domestic semiconductor manufacturing is crucial for U.S. global competitiveness and national security.”
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“As such, we strongly support robust funding for the CHIPS Act, and believe Virginia is uniquely positioned to effectively leverage federal investments to strengthen domestic manufacturing,” they said.
Despite the urgency, Congress has been slow to adopt the legislation and send it to President Joe Biden to sign into law. The Senate approved its version of the bill last June, but the House passed a competing version in early February.
The differences must be reconciled in conference committee for final votes by each chamber.
Virginia already has a presence in the semiconductor industry with the manufacturing facility that Micron Technology operates in Manassas, but the state lost at least one factory during the Great Recession with the closure of the Qimonda plant at White Oak in eastern Henrico.
Chesterfield also is poised to attract a major semiconductor manufacturing factory, with a 2,000-acre site at Upper Magnolia Green that was among the final three locations for a pair of chip plants that Intel announced in January that it would build in Ohio.
“Securing advanced manufacturing is critical to growing local, regional and state economies, which is why Chesterfield has taken a strategic approach to be ready when opportunities knock,” said Chesterfield Board of Supervisors Chairman Chris Winslow in a release of the letter to the Biden administration.
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In addition to new chip fabrication plants, Virginia’s congressional delegation wants to land two proposed national centers for research in semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging.
The National Semiconductor Technology Center represents a public consortium that would involve private companies as well as the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.
The National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program would be an initiative led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for research and development of domestic processes for semiconductor packaging.
“Virginia’s leading technology workforce and semiconductor manufacturing presence make the commonwealth an ideal location for future federal investments in semiconductor research and manufacturing,” they said.
Both Warner, as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Don McEachin, D-4th, who represents Richmond and parts of Henrico and Chesterfield counties, were named Thursday to the conference committee on the America COMPETES Act, as the larger bill is known.
“As we look to solidify our strong economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, we must ensure we are taking steps to increase our global competitiveness and bolster manufacturing here at home,” said McEachin, who was appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “Reaching a final agreement on this legislation is a top priority, as it will help modernize our supply chains, address inflationary pressures, and create new jobs for the American people.”
Richmond Times-Dispatch: 2021 - The Year in Photos
Gov. Glenn Youngkin plans to boost GOP congressional candidates Jen Kiggans, Yesli Vega and Hung Cao.
Violinists Marissa Resmini (left) and Becca Longhenry (right), members of the Richmond Philharmonic, played classical and contemporary music during the COVID-19 vaccine clinic inside the Dominion Building at the Richmond Raceway in Richmond on April 2. A variety of musicians from the group were performing at some of the clinics to help entertain and put people at ease.
American flags cover the hill outside the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, VA Wednesday, June 30, 2021.
People participated in a stand-up paddleboarding yoga class on the James River in Richmond on June 29.
Crews took down the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond on Sept. 8. Dedicated in 1890, the bronze statue was the largest standing Confederate monument in the country before its removal, officials said.
Monument Avenue is seen without Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond on Monday, September 13, 2021.
Alpha Kallon takes a selfie at FStop Selfie Lounge on the first floor of Regency mall Thursday, July 1, 2021.
Shoe Crazy Wine founder Gwen Hurt is photographed on Thursday, September 30, 2021 at Blue Bee Cider in Richmond, Virginia. Blue Bee Cider and Shoe Crazy Wine collaborated on a cider.
“Not knowing why he is gone,” Andrea Richardson says about the most difficult part of losing her son, Timothy Richardson, “not knowing who did it.” Andrea spends time with her granddaughter, Ja’Nyla Richardson, 10-month-old.
Suja Amir reflected on the legacy of 9/11 on Monday, September 6, 2021 at her home in Richmond, Virginia.
Eillana Sparks, 2, looks on during the RVA Illuminates on Friday, December 3, 2021 at Kanawha Plaza in Richmond, Virginia.
Shaneqa Thomas is photographed in her home on Friday, December 10, 2021 at Fulton apartments in Richmond, Virginia.
Micah Johnston, 8, looks at some of the clovers he has collected during the pandemic, including 4, 5 and 6-leaf ones near his home in Chesterfield, VA. Micah showed off his collection, which filled many pages of a book, to a visitor Wednesday, June 30, 2021.
Mildred Walker sings a “Lift Every Voice and Sing” with other members of the community choir during the opening ceremony for Juneteenth in Colonial Williamsburg on Saturday, June 19, 2021.
Benedictine's baseball players celebrate after winning over St. Christopher as 8:7 during the the VISAA, Division I baseball state championship game at Shepherd Stadium in Colonial Heights on Saturday, May 22, 2021.
L.C. Bird's Jessika Pellot-Rosa, center, falls and loses her shoe as she competes with Atlee's Jada Foreman, left, and Manchester's Jaslyne Robinson, rigtht, during Girls 300 Meter Hurdle of 2021 Region 5B track & field championships at Glen Allen High School, Henrico, Va., Saturday, June 12, 2021. Foreman won the meet, Robinson did the second and Pellot-Rosa finishes the meet with 5th place.
Richmond Times-Dispatch columnist Michael Paul Williams (center) celebrated with other newsroom staff at the newspaper’s office in Richmond on June 11 after earning a Pulitzer Prize in Commentary for his work in 2020.
Robert E. Lee Monument is shown in Richmond, Va., on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021. Virginia Supreme Court cleared the way for the removal of Lee Monument on Thursday.
Whenever 10-month-old Ja’Nyla Richardson looks at photos of her father, Timothy Richardson, she tries to kiss or touch the photos. For Ja’Nyla, photos and stories from loved ones will be the only way to remember her father, who was killed in July.
Lillie Goodrich spends time with Mac, 12, and Nell, 10, at Glen Highland Border Collie Rescue & Sanctuary in Gloucester on Tuesday, May 25, 2021. Goodrich founded the non-profit organization with her late husband, John Andersen, in upper New York State, 2001. Since then, over 3,000 dogs found safe haven through the organization. In 2019, the organization moved down to Gloucester and focus on long-term care for unadoptable dogs.
Connie Stroupe (left) hugged her 5-year-old granddaughter, Sadie Mull, as Stroupe’s family members visited her at Lucy Corr Village in Chesterfield on Mother’s Day on May 9.
Thomas Dale’s Kyon Turner was tackled by L.C. Bird’s Dorien Wade during the first half of the high school football game in Chester on Sept. 2.
Olive, a bull mastiff dog, with Rob Cerullo, Powhatan County’s deputy commonwealth’s attorney, was sworn in as a courthouse therapy dog by Judge Paul Cella at Powhatan County Courthouse, on Oct. 28. Courthouse therapy dogs like Olive comfort crime victims, witnesses and their families in criminal cases.
Zain Tlili, 8, of Chesterfield, waves a Palestinian flag as he attends a rally, ”We Stand with Palestine!” with his family at Monroe Park, Richmond, Va., on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
Trees on Monument Avenue in Richmond showed off their fall foliage Nov. 16.
Willie D. Ransom Sr. of Powhatan holds a photo of his son, Charles A. Ransom, an Air Force major who was killed in Afghanistan in 2011. U.S. troops left Afghanistan in August.
A musician played his instrument at the Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond on Jan. 18.
“We are all winners!” says Ed Green, center left, an influential local musical artist known as Ed da Realist, after his boxing match with his long-time friend and another local businessman, Corey Dark, at Diversity Richmond, in Richmond, Va., on Friday, August 27, 2021. He is teaming up with Dark, to hold a boxing event, to promote his message, “Stop the Violence: Guns Down, Gloves up.”
Evelin Santos, center right, comforts Jennifer Ordonez as they pray together with other church members at Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal Filadelfia in Midlothian on March 28, 2021.
Andrea Richardson cried as she talked about her son, Timothy Richardson, who was killed in Richmond in July.
Crews lift the top part of the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond on Sept. 8.
Chris Gotberg and his daughter, Nina, 9, shared a laugh after their daily lunch walk in Richmond on June 16. Nina was born prematurely a week before Father’s Day with health issues, including cerebral palsy. The first time Gotberg could hold her was Father’s Day nine years ago.
Friends of Lucia Bremer, 13, who was fatally shot by a teen, placed flowers in her memory in Henrico County on March 27.
Monument Avenue is seen without Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond on Monday, September 13, 2021.
Keisha Cummings held her son, Jeremiah, while playing in a pool at Cobblestone Water Park in Glen Allen on July 14. At the pool, she connected with a new family of three that had just moved from New York in hopes of finding resources for them to help make their move a bit easier.
Morgan Bullock, a 21-year-old Midlothian native, gained fame on the internet after she posted a 13-second video of her Irish stepdancing to a remix of rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s song “Savage,” featuring Beyoncé.
Campbell Williams, 14, embraced Katie Rogers, 15, on March 30 during a candlelight vigil in honor of Lucia Bremer at Quioccasin Middle School in Henrico County. A teenage boy is accused of killing Bremer.
Nutzy made his way down the Dominion Energy building in Richmond on Aug. 27 during Over The Edge, a fundraiser for the SPCA.
Hannah Yaman embraced Scheryl Canter after she was unable to find a cross with her son’s name on it at the McShin Foundation in Henrico County on Aug. 31 during a candlelight vigil honoring the victims of drug overdoses.
Young supporters raised their fists as Gov. Ralph Northam spoke on Oct. 23 during a rally at James Branch Cabell Library in Monroe Park in Richmond.
Lightning struck on Sept. 8 behind an empty pedestal along Monument Avenue in Richmond where Gen. Robert E. Lee had sat since 1890. The 21-foot bronze statue weighed 12 tons and was on top of a 40-foot granite pedestal.
Richmond wide receiver Jasiah Williams (5) carried the ball against Delaware at Robins Stadium in Richmond on Nov. 13.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney touched the Emancipation and Freedom Monument at Brown’s Island on Sept. 22 following the dedication and unveiling of the statue by Virginia’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Commission.
Washington Football Team running back Antonio Gibson (24) carried the ball as Los Angeles Chargers outside linebacker Kyzir White (44) and cornerback Michael Davis (43) defended during the first half of a football game in Landover, Md., on Sept. 12.
Cindy Siussan (center) yelled “Do the right thing” as Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors Vice Chairperson Christopher Winslow (right) made his way to a meeting room at the county police department on Nov. 17.
Noah Gragson celebrated in Victory Lane with his team after winning the 41st Annual Go Bowling 250 at Richmond Raceway on Sept. 11.
Funeral services were held for Sharnez Hill and her 3-month-old baby, Neziah Hil, at United Nations Church. The two were victims of an April shooting at Belt Atlantic Apartments. The family requested a horse-drawn carriage to carry the casket to the cemetery. The shooting also injured a 29-year-old woman, a 15-year-old girl and an 11-year-old girl.
Camp participants with Riverside Outfitters took turns swinging through the trees of the James River Park near Reedy Creek on Aug. 6. The adventure camps, which have been around since 2007, help kids to foster friendship, confidence, creativity and an appreciation for Richmond’s urban river and forest.
Several hundred people turned out in support of a Bans off Our Bodies RVA March and rally in support of reproductive freedom at Diversity Richmond on Oct. 2. The event included speakers and a 3-mile march. Rae Pickett, one of the event’s organizers, spoke to the crowd as they began the march.
The Safe Space Market features vendors, live entertainment and performances at the site of the Lakeside Farmers Market. Members of the crowd cheered as Melanin “Moneybag” Monroe performed as part of entertainment June 25.
A mist rose from the turf at Klehr Field in Henrico County on Oct. 4 as the Chamberlayne Packers practiced football under the lights.
Natali Bonnie, holding her daughter Mia Bonnie, wore the Israeli flag during the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond’s “Standing Against Antisemitism” at Congregation Beth Ahabah in June.
Henrico County police investigated a crash at Monument Avenue and Horsepen Road in August.
Benedictine cadets formed a Saber Arch as the procession entered for a memorial Mass celebrating the life of the Rev. Adrian W. Harmening in August.
Staff Sgt. Samuel Bonaparte presented an American flag to Nancy Fraker during the July graveside service for her uncle, staff Sgt. Raymond Carlyle Blanton, in Maury Cemetery. Ira Smith, Blanton’s nephew, was also presented with an American flag.
VCU’s Jamir Watkins and Saint Bonaventure’s Osun Osunniyi vie for a loose ball in the Siegel Center in Richmond, Va., Fri., Feb. 12, 2021.
Lt. Gov.-elect Winsome Sears touched the seal of the Virginia Senate during a visit to the state Capitol after her victory.
Hopewell sheriff’s deputy Amanda McConnell gave Justyce Cunningham, 6, a high five as her sister Jymeni Cunningham, 3, walked up to receive one, too, at Thomas Rolfe Apartments in Hopewell in April.
VCU’s Campbell Ellis celebrated with the Rams after they beat Dayton for the Atlantic 10 baseball championship at the Diamond in May.
Mia Sanchez, 2, watched as her dog Jacks, dressed as Super Dog, met Wellington, dressed as Batman, at Canon & Draw Brewing Company for the Dog Halloween Costume Contest in October. The winner received a basket of dog goodies and a $25 gift certificate to Canon and Draw.
Runners and walkers crossed over the James River on the Belle Isle Pedestrian Bridge in January.
VCU’s Jack Schroeder catches the ball for a third Rhode Island out in the eighth inning during the A10 baseball semi-finals at the Diamond Friday, May 28, 2021.
Kadon Webster, 8, spoke about his cousin Rah’quan “Ompa” Logan during a November vigil outside the OMG Convenience Store, where Logan, 14, had been killed. With Kadon were Richmond City Council member Cynthia Newbille (from left), Rah’quan’s aunt Aleta Johnson, Rah’quan’s sister Tarneka Scruggs and J.J. Minor with the Richmond branch of the NAACP.
VCU’s Corey Douglas Jr. and UR’s Nathan Cayo battled for a rebound at the Siegel Center in Richmond in February.
The star Sirius moved in the sky during a time exposure image taken in January.
In June, Nancy Fraker held a portrait of her uncle Carlyle Blanton that was handed down by each of his six sisters until her mother, Shirley Blanton Chimento, inherited it. Now Fraker has it on her dining room wall.
The Emancipation and Freedom Monument on Brown’s Island, seen in September, features a man with chains dropping from his wrists and a woman holding a child and holding a document signifying the Emancipation Proclamation.
Abigail Weber, 6, of Chesterfield County, watched a locomotive pass by at the Model Railroad Show inside the Science Museum in Richmond in November.
A Zinnia pokes through a picket fence along Barksdale Rd. in eastern Henrico County, VA Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021.
Glenn Youngkin got a standing ovation from an enthusiastic crowd after speaking during the 50th annual Labor Fest in Buena Vista in September. Youngkin, the Republican nominee for governor, would lead the party to a sweep in statewide offices in November.
Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City, jokingly knocked on the plexiglass panel around the desks of Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth (center), and Del. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton. Members of the Virginia Senate were separated by plexiglass panels as they began a floor session inside the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond in August on the first day of the General Assembly’s special session.
Bob Nelson, right, turns away from the vandalized headstones inside President’s Circle in Richmond, VA’s Hollywood Cemetery where U.S. Presidents James Monroe and John Tyler are buried Monday, March 15, 2021 as workmen assess the damage. Nelson’s wife, Judith, is buried nearby and he was worried that her marker might have been affected, though it was not bothered.
The statue of Harry F. Byrd, Sr., former Virginia Governor and U. S. Senator, lies on a flatbed truck in front of the new General Assembly Building under construction after it was removed from the pedestal in Capitol Square in Richmond, VA Wednesday, July 7, 2021. The General Assembly approved the removal during the last session.
Mathias Mantilla, 3, was with his family members at the Virginia March for Life Rally at the State Capitol in Richmond, VA Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. Participants in the Virginia March for Life gathered in front of the state Capitol on Friday to rally for abortion restrictions and to encourage people to vote. The GOP nominee for governor, Glenn Youngkin, supports a ban on abortion with few exceptions.
House Sergeant at Arms Jay Pearson carried the mace into the empty House of Delegates chamber as House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax (top), and House Clerk Suzette Denslow waited for the start of the day’s virtual House session inside the state Capitol in Richmond in February. The House members connected with the speaker and clerk remotely via Zoom in light of COVID-19 restrictions.
Tyler Krickovic, 22, a senior at VCU, practices his slackline skills on the Monument Ave. median in front of the statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, VA Thursday, March 18, 2021. Removal of the Lee statue is still pending in court at this time.
GOP gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin arrives at a campaign rally in Richmond, VA Tuesday, May 11, 2021.
A young girl looked up toward an image of Aureon “Phat-Phat” Evans during a vigil in Forest Hill Park in May. Evans was found shot to death on May 11 inside a Henrico County apartment.
A couple walked on the Virginia Capital Trail bike path along the James River near Rocketts Landing in Richmond in August.
Violinists Marissa Resmini, left, and Becca Longhenry, right, members of the Richmond Philharmonic, play classical and contemporary music during the COVID vaccine clinic inside the Dominion Building at the Richmond Raceway in Richmond, VA Friday, April 2, 2021. A variety of musicians from the group have been performing at some of the clinics to help entertain and put people at ease.
Rose Grayson comforted James Grayson (left) and Rudy McCollum after Gov. Ralph Northam issued posthumous pardons for Francis DeSales Grayson and the other members of the Martinsville Seven in Richmond in August. The three are relatives of Grayson, who was executed along with the six other Black men 70 years ago in connection with the rape of a white woman despite being denied due process of law.
The statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee rested on the ground after being taken down from its pedestal on Monument Avenue in Richmond in September. A ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court allowed it to be removed.
Ward Tefft, owner of Chop Suey Books, handed a bag of books out the door of his Carytown business in March. Tefft announced in October that he was selling the store after nearly 20 years at the helm.
A vaccination clinic at the Richmond Raceway in March had vials of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on hand. The J&J vaccine requires only one shot.
Emmett Jafari, a graduate of Maggie Walker High School, is photographed with his granddaughter Mariam Jafari-Nasalli, 16, outside Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School in Richmond, Va. on September 17, 2021. Mariam is currently a junior at the school.
Oct. 7-9
Three days of music on six stages with more than 30 performers from around the world. Plus food, vendors, folklife and more. Richmond’s riverfront. Free, $10 suggested donation. https://www.richmondfolkfestival.org
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg takes a walking tour of Jackson Ward with local political figures, including Congressman A. Donald McEachin, D-4th, on Friday, December 3, 2021. Buttigieg visited the neighborhood as part of a conversation about the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which includes a pot of money that could be tapped to plan a deck-bridge over a portion of I-95. The deck-bridge would reconnect the two parts of Jackson Ward split by construction of the turnpike that led to the interstate in the mid-1950s.
The statue of Robert E. Lee is removed from its pedestal on Monument Avenue in Richmond on Wednesday, September 8, 2021.
