World Pumps - Edwards Vacuum reaches US$18mn funding agreement to bring specialized dry vacuum pump manufacturing to the US

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The US Department of Commerce and Edwards Vacuum have signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) to provide up to US$18 million in proposed direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to support the construction of a greenfield state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Genesee County, New York.

The facility, which Edwards Vacuum first announced in 2022, will produce dry vacuum pumps, which are needed for semiconductor production, and is estimated to create approximately 600 jobs.

This proposed investment in Edwards Vacuum will help ensure a reliable domestic supply of important equipment needed for semiconductor manufacturing. Currently, there is no domestic production of semiconductor-grade dry vacuum pumps. These pumps are essential for both advanced and legacy semiconductor fabrication: Installed beneath the fab, they maintain the chamber environment where wafers are processed by evacuating toxic fumes and chemicals.

“This strategic and targeted proposed investment in domestically manufactured dry vacuum pumps, which all semiconductor manufacturers need to operate fabs, is another example of how we are working to ensure every part of the semiconductor supply chain is being built right here in the United States,” said US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “With President Biden and Vice President Harris’s CHIPS and Science Act and this proposed investment in New York, semiconductor manufacturers would have a domestic supply of this important equipment.”

President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act, a key component of his Investing in America agenda, to revitalize semiconductor manufacturing in America while strengthening the domestic supply chain.