State, national leaders convene in Hillsboro to talk semiconductor workforce

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo talked up Oregon’s strengths in the semiconductor industry at a roundtable with lawmakers, higher education leaders and industry professionals at Portland Community College’s Willow Creek campus.

Top officials, such as U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, Gov. Tina Kotek and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Beaverton, are working to solidify Oregon’s leading position as a semiconductor production hub at a crucial time for the state. The federal CHIPS and Science Act, which Congress passed last year, contains more than $52 billion in federal funding, meant to expand domestic manufacturing of semiconductors — a material critical to the production of a variety of electronics.