Micron Technology has picked a site in upstate New York instead of a location in Lockhart south of Austin for a multibillion-dollar new semiconductor factory.

"It was between us and New York at the end, and it just came down to incentive packages," said Hoppy Haden, who serves as county judge in Caldwell County, where Lockhart is located. "New York just upped the ante, and (Micron) went with the money."

Micron, one of the world’s largest microchip manufacturers, announced Tuesday it would open a semiconductor factory in Clay, N.Y., promising a long-term investment of up to $100 billion and a plant that could bring 50,000 jobs to the state.

Micron was lured to the Syracuse area with help from a generous set of federal, state and local incentives, including up to $5.5 billion in state tax credits over 20 years.

Haden said Caldwell County officials had been in periodic discussions with Micron representatives for nearly 18 months in an effort to bring the plant to Lockhart, 35 miles south of Austin.

In August, Micron filed applications under the state's Chapter 313 incentives program for tax breaks from the Lockhart school district totaling about $565 million over 10 years for the initial phase of a possible project in the city. The company also could have received county and city tax breaks, as well as publicly funded incentives from the state.

Micron representatives couldn't be reached to comment on their reasoning for picking the site in New York instead of Lockhart.

Micron's announcement of the New York factory comes after Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., had pushed Micron and the company’s CEO, Sanjay Mehrotra, to consider upstate New York. It also comes months after Congress passed the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which set aside $52 billion to bolster the semiconductor industry.

“An investment of this scale in the U.S. is simply not possible without significant government and community support,” Mehrotra said at Tuesday's announcement.

More:Micron Technology considers Lockhart for multibillion-dollar chip factory

In addition to tax credits, New York has pledged $200 million for road and infrastructure improvements where the plant is being built in suburban Clay and $100 million to a “community benefit” fund. The state also will consider supplying the operation with low-cost power.

'It would have been transformational'

Michael Wright, president of the Lockhart school board, called Micron's decision disappointing.

"We had felt like we had made our best effort and put our best foot forward," Wright said. "It would have been transformational for our area."

Haden said officials in Caldwell County and Lockhart will turn now to pursuing numerous other economic development projects that have been considering the region.

"It's disappointing, but we have already pivoted and are in the process of pursuing other opportunities," he said. “We went to bed disappointed (after hearing about the decision late Monday) and woke up the next morning and started working" on other efforts.

A rare loss

Micron's decision represents something of a rare loss for the Austin metro area in recent years. The region has logged a string of major economic development wins, including big projects by Apple, Samsung and Tesla, as well as decisions by both Tesla and Oracle to relocate their corporate headquarters here.

Companies like Micron manufacture the diminutive chips that power everything from smartphones to computers to automobiles. The federal CHIPS act is aimed at bolstering U.S. competitiveness against China and avoiding another chip shortage like the one that derailed the automobile and technology industries during the pandemic.

“Chips are essential to our economy, and if we were to lose the ability to manufacture chips here in the United States, it would be a severe, both economic security and national security risk,” Schumer told The Associated Press. “This will be the most advanced memory chip manufacturing facility in the United States and probably the world. And it’s located in a place that will really benefit from it.”

The company plans to invest up to $100 billion over the next 20-plus years, with the first investment of $20 billion planned by the end of the decade. The deal also is expected to bring more than 9,000 Micron jobs, and officials believe it could also bring close to 40,000 other ancillary jobs to the region, including suppliers and contractors, Schumer said.

Having signed the $280 billion bill last month, President Joe Biden touted the New York investment as proof that it was working.

More:Applied Materials pulls bid for tax breaks for possible $2 billion Austin-area facility

“Today is another win for America, and another massive new investment in America spurred by my economic plan,” Biden said. “Micron, an American company, is investing $20 billion dollars this decade and up to $100 billion over 20 years in CHIPS manufacturing in upstate New York, creating tens of thousands of good-paying jobs. Together, we are building an economy from the bottom up and the middle out, where we lower costs for our families and make it right here in America.”

Micron, based in Boise, Idaho, has several chip manufacturing plants around the world, including in Singapore and Taiwan. The company announced in September that it would invest $15 billion through the end of the decade on a new semiconductor plant in its hometown of Boise that the chipmaker said will create 17,000 American jobs.

“This is like a 21st century Erie Canal,” Schumer said of the New York plant. “And just as the original Erie Canal did centuries ago, this will help cement the growth of our economy for decades to come, not only in upstate New York, but in the country, since these chips are so vital to so many of our cutting-edge industries.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Micron to build chip plant in upstate New York instead of Lockhart