Risch, Crapo applaud Idaho Tech Hub designation

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo of Idaho recently commended the American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Center on its Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs) designation.

The Inland Northwest’s American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Center has been selected as a Tech Hub as a result of Risch’s legislation, the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act.

“Semiconductor production can and should be done in America, and the Inland Northwest is the right place to develop and produce this critical technology,” Risch said. “I congratulate the American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Center on its Tech Hubs designation. This selection is crucial to the Inland Northwest and will enable a strong domestic supply chain.”

"The Tech Hub program invests in Idaho students and industries as it drives regional innovation and job creation in a growing field needed to advance American competitiveness in a global marketplace,” Crapo said. “This investment will allow Idaho to further create a destination for aerospace modernization and suppliers, advancing the U.S. aerospace supply chain from our backyard.

The CHIPS for America Act will restore semiconductor manufacturing back to American soil by increasing federal incentives to stimulate advanced chip manufacturing, enable cutting-edge research and development, secure the supply chain and bring greater transparency to the microelectronics ecosystem, create American jobs, and ensure long-term national security, according to a press release.

The legislation created the Tech Hubs program to create regional opportunities to create and produce these technologies.

Idaho is a leader in innovation and manufacturing with two – the Inland Northwest’s American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Tech Hub and the Intermountain-West Consortium Tech Hub – calling it home, the release said.

The American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Tech Hub aims to develop new domestic supply chains to meet the immediate demand for high-rate production of advanced composite aerostructures in defense and commercial markets.

   Risch