The process of bringing Micron to Onondaga County was largely seen as a bipartisan effort backed by the Green CHIPS law in New York and the CHIPS and Science Act championed by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

But long before Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon worked to bring a semiconductor plant to the White Pine site — a development that started years before he became county executive — there were improvements to the site and conversations started with companies.

“We put together 1,400 acres of property that has the ability to have all of the wastewater you need, all of the water you need, all of the gas and electric you need, from the substation up the street here,” McMahon said.

He said it was a combination of hard work and rock-solid infrastructure that brought Micron to Onondaga County.

“It would take somebody probably 10 years to build out what we have right here,” McMahon said.

While the effort was kickstarted long before his time in office, McMahon has mostly become the public face of the White Pine project who is facing public criticism, including from county residents concerned about footing the bill.

Spectrum News 1 sat down with McMahon to ask about his role in convincing Micron to build a massive semiconductor site in the town of Clay, and criticism from residents for selecting that site.

“Where does the money come from for this or any property the county buys?

“The county taxpayer,” McMahon said.

In his office, McMahon said criticism has come from all angles, but in the end, the county stayed the course.

"We took the criticisms and we invested, and now that decision-making process is paying a huge dividends for this community,” McMahon said. 

The criticism stems from the acquisition of homes on Burnett Road, the cost and pressure placed on residents to sell.

“Tell me a little bit about that process. Did another county ensure that it was being done correctly?”

“I went out to Clay and held a town hall meeting for the whole community to explain the White Pine opportunity, and to look homeowners in the eyes and say there’s a high probability I’m going to need your property, but we’re going to pay you above market rate. And that’s what we did.”

He hopes that investment will translate to opportunity in a region anchored by a city known for having one of the highest childhood poverty rates in the nation.

“The fact that I can go and look at any young child in the eye at any school in this community and say, ‘You have a future here in this community. You’re gonna want to be here,'” McMahon said.

The company has made wide-ranging promises, and McMahon acknowledges that the area's history of de-investment, along with environmental concerns, have created skepticism.

“What can you say to people who have those concerns about what you were going to do to make sure that Micron holds up their end of the bargain?”

“You have to look at what the company's behavior is today, when the industry is in the middle of a steep downturn... They’re working with us every day,” McMahon said.

What process did the county go through to make sure that this wasn’t going to be harmful to the environment?

"We’re doing it now. That’s the next phase, for the incentive proposal from the state HAS called ‘green CHIPS.’ And it’s green chips because this needs to be a sustainable and environmentally friendly project. The actual construction of this would be a minimum LEED gold-certified facility,” he said. 

McMahon said that green CHIPS act, along with his efforts and the Chips and Science Act at the federal level, were a bipartisan effort he hopes will create a brighter future for Onondaga County.

“Twenty-five years from now, if you were given an hour to drive all around Onondaga County, what do you think you’ll see?”

"I think what we’ll see is a community that took advantage of the greatest opportunity a community has been given in modern history. What we build today needs to be an asset 20 years from now,” McMahon said.