US Commerce Department names financial sector, government experts to chips team

THE US Commerce Department said Friday (Feb 17) it is naming more than a dozen members to a team overseeing US$52.7 billion in government funding to boost semiconductor manufacturing and research.

The new team members include officials with experience managing large federal programmes, experts from the semiconductor industry, and executives with financial sector experience, the department said.

The department said Todd Fisher – a Commerce official who previously worked for nearly 25 years at KKR . – will serve as chief investment officer.

Congress in August approved US$52.7 billion for semiconductor manufacturing and research and cleared a 25 per cent investment tax credit for chip plants, estimated to be worth US$24 billion, and US$39 billion in government semiconductor chips subsidies to build new facilities and expand existing US production.

The department plans to release its first Notice of Funding Opportunity this month, a key step to beginning the process of making funding awards.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who will speak next week to outline long-term goals for the programme, said the team will ensure funding “spurs manufacturing and innovation and revitalises our domestic semiconductor industry, while being good stewards of taxpayer US dollars.”

In September, Commerce Department chief economist Aaron “Ronnie” Chatterji was named White House coordinator for CHIPS Implementation while former Treasury official Michael Schmidt was named Commerce Department CHIPS Program Office director.

New hires include Rebecca Callahan, a former aide on the US House Science, Space, & Technology Committee; chief strategy officer Morgan Dwyer, who previously led the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy National Security Division; and chief risk officer Andrew Kuritzkes, a Commerce official who previously was chief risk officer of State Street.

Also joining are chief economist and director of Strategic Planning and Industry Analysis Dan Kim, who has worked for Qualcomm and SK Hynix; Brad Koenig, who worked at Goldman Sachs from 1984 to 2005, and Mike O’Brien, previously vice-president of aerospace and government at Synopsys. REUTERS