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Ohio Senator discusses impact Intel's factories will have on Licking County economy

Ohio Senator Jay Hottinger downplays fears that some people have about the negative impacts the company will have on the area.

LICKING COUNTY, Ohio — President Joe Biden will arrive in Ohio Friday to welcome Intel to Ohio.

The private event, which is closed to the public, was supposed to take place in June, but was delayed as Intel put pressure on Congress to pass the $52 billion CHIPS Act. Congress passed the semiconductor incentive package in July.

President Biden is expected to tout the act which he says "Will strengthen American manufacturing, supply chains, and national security, and invest in research and development, science and technology, and the workforce of the future to keep the United States the leader in the industries of tomorrow, including nanotechnology, clean energy, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence."

Ohio Senator Jay Hottinger (R-Newark) said the passage of the semiconductor bill could allow Intel to build a minimum of five factories, possibly seven or eight.

To say this 926-acre project is massive is an understatement.

"This project is larger than Honda and it's larger than Wright Patterson Air [Force] Base and it's even larger than both of those projects combined," Hottinger said.

Hottinger said each plant or "fab" Intel builds will require enough steel to build five Eiffel towers.

There are also some big problems with an investment this size.

Hottinger said he recognizes the lack of housing for thousands of people who plan to work here.

"I think in a decade there could be seven or eight thousand Intel employees there. I think there is already an acute housing shortage and I think that's going to be exasperated," he said.

Hottinger has traveled to Intel's plants in Chandler, Arizona and Israel.

He downplays fears some have about the negative impacts the company will have on this area.

"I don't think it's going to have a significant adverse effect on the families that live nearby. When I was in Chandler, Arizona people bought million-dollar houses across the street from the facility," he said

The Intel project is expected to hire 3,000 direct jobs and the project will likely generate 10,000 construction jobs.  

The state of Ohio provided more than a billion dollars of tax incentives to kick start the project.

Details about the time President Biden plans to speak have not been released.

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