It comes after winning $32 million in CHIPS funding                          

CANTON — More manufacturing jobs are on the way for the Canton plant of Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW).

The company has reached an up to $32 million preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) funding agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce to increase production at its Canton facility of specialized glass that’s vital for the semiconductor industry.

The expansion is expected to create up to 130 new manufacturing jobs, including new union positions, and more than 175 union construction jobs, the office of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) said in its Nov. 8 announcement.

The senator also contends the expansion will “help strengthen this vital supply chain for America’s national security.”

Schumer explained that the proposed CHIPS award will support Corning’s planned $315 million investment that will boost glass production in Canton. Corning Inc. is one of the largest industrial employers in the North Country, the senator’s office noted.

To carry out the expansion, Corning Inc. will work with local unions, including United Steelworkers Local 1026, which represents Corning’s glass-making workforce at the Canton facility and will represent applicable new workers.

Specifically, Corning Inc. plans to increase the production of high purity fused silica and ultra-low expansion glass, which are key components of deep ultraviolet (DUV) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines and photomasks, Schumer’s office said.

DUV and EUV technology are important to semiconductor manufacturing, and this project will improve EUV performance with a lower carbon footprint.

“We are grateful for Majority Leader Schumer’s vision and tireless efforts to strengthen the domestic semiconductor supply chain through the direct funding award and the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit created by the CHIPS and Science Act,” Wendell Weeks, chairman and CEO of Corning Inc., said in the Schumer announcement. “This strategic investment will help our Canton, New York facility continue to expand production of advanced optics components and create up to 130 good paying jobs that are critical to making the world’s most complex microchips.”

To support both the company’s workforce and the broader community’s child-care infrastructure, Corning Inc. also plans to invest $300,000 per year for the duration of the proposed project to support the St. Lawrence County Childcare Training Program.

The effort would help build and stabilize the child-care workforce and increase child-care supply for the community, making it easier for employees to find and obtain care and helping the company access the additional workers needed to make this expansion a success, Schumer’s office said.

The lawmaker also recently announced that Albany NanoTech would be home to the country’s first National Semiconductor Technology Center facility as the headquarters focusing on EUV (extreme ultraviolet lithography) research. By increasing production at Corning’s North Country plant, more American-made glass “critical” to the technology required by new chip fabs such as Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) in Clay, GlobalFoundries in Malta, and Wolfspeed, Inc. (NYSE: WOLF) in Marcy will be made available, “strengthening U.S. supply chains and offering microchip producers shorter wait times and improved responsiveness from an American-made product,” Schumer’s office contends.