With Micron on the way and other advanced manufacturing leaders like Wolfspeed and GlobalFoundries in the region, New York is becoming one of the top states in the country in the semiconducting and microelectronics industry. The growth means more technological advances in items Americans use every day, like phones and cars, but it could strengthen national security as well. 

“There’s a lot of opportunity for growth for national security purposes," said Michael Frame, executive vice president of The Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY). 

Leaders and potential up-and-comers in the microelectronic industry gathered on Thursday at the 2024 Microelectronics Forum. 

“This event is an excellent opportunity for us to collaborate with existing partners and to develop new opportunities for collaborations with the growth of microelectronics," he said. 

The forum was hosted by the Upstate Defense Initiative to help grow industries critical to the nation's defense. 

“The growth of microelectronics for national security is essential," Frame said. 

The Manufacturers Association of Central New York represents more than 300 businesses upstate. Frame believes the forum can be essential to improving our microelectronic supply chain. 

“This initiative helps us to move a lot of that manufacturing abroad here to the United States," he said. "It’s not just the actual product itself but all the parts itself that go into making that product, and when you don’t control where the product is developed it becomes then very challenging.”

Opening up more opportunities in the process, helping them stay one step ahead in security. 

“Those opportunities then will also create new innovation and growth for entrepreneurs, for example, to meet the new needs. So as we talk about things like the growth of artificial intelligence and machine learning and quantum computing, those all have applications for the military," Frame said. 

“Being able to have the technological advantage is one of the keys that the American military has had for over the past 70 years, and so to continue to develop that technological advantage keeps us safe," he said.