GROUNDBREAKING FOR HUGE MICRON CHIP PLANT IN CENTRAL NEW YORK AFTER YEARS OF PLANNING. (PHOTO).

 Groundbreaking for huge Micron chip plant in Central New York after years of planning

 Micron officially broke ground Friday on its massive new chipmaking facility in Clay, Central New York, drawing a crowd of federal, state, and local officials to celebrate the start of construction. The project is expected to become the largest semiconductor facility in the United States and represents the company’s largest private investment in New York’s history, with a projected $100 billion over the next two decades.

Gov. Kathy Hochul praised the project as a milestone for manufacturing in the state, calling it “a dream come true” that will revitalize New York’s economy. Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said the groundbreaking marks the start of “a transformation” that began four years ago when he first visited the site, adding that the facility will generate tens of thousands of jobs and position Central New York as a key hub for the AI economy. The ceremony also drew U.S. senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who highlighted the historic construction labor agreement tied to the project. Mehrotra said the first chips are expected to be produced at the Clay site in about four years, and Schumer described the project as “the dawn of a new day” for semiconductors along the I-90 corridor.