One of Colorado Springs’ largest high-tech projects in recent memory received a major financial boost Thursday when the federal government awarded up to $77 million to Entegris, which will help the Massachusetts-based supplier of electronic materials for the semiconductor industry construct a $600 million state-of-the-art manufacturing facility on the city’s northwest side that could employ 600 people.

The award, announced by the U.S. Department of Commerce and Entegris, is being made via the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science program — known as the CHIPS and Science Act.

Federal lawmakers and the Biden administration created the program in 2022, whose financial incentives are meant to encourage the expansion and construction of U.S. microprocessor manufacturing facilities, among other initiatives.

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In June, the Commerce Department and Entegris announced a preliminary agreement in which the company would receive CHIPS funding to support its new manufacturing facility in Colorado Springs; Thursday’s announcement finalizes that deal.

“We are pleased to receive this important funding to help strengthen the U.S. semiconductor industry infrastructure,” Bertrand Loy, Entegris’ president and CEO, said in a news release. “This further expands our ability to meet the critical needs of our customers while contributing back to the local economy in Colorado Springs.”

In June 2023, Entegris launched construction of what it has described as a “manufacturing center of excellence” on nearly 90 acres at 301 S. Rockrimmon Blvd. in the Springs. The site was the onetime home of a manufacturing plant operated by California tech giant Hewlett-Packard, though it had been torn down more than a decade ago.

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Entegris’ new manufacturing center initially will support production of liquid filtration products, along with Front-Opening-Unified Pods. Known as FOUPs, the highly specialized containers that transport and protect silicon wafers during the manufacturing of semiconductors, according to Commerce Department and company news releases. Entegris’ FOUPs are made in Asia.

“These internal transportation systems have dramatically enhanced the production of semiconductor manufacturing over the last two decades with some of the world’s largest chipmakers being major customers for these carriers,” according to the Commerce Department.

The first phase of Entegris’ manufacturing facility will total 130,000 square feet at a cost of about $200 million and is expected to employ 100 to 200 people, company officials have said. It’s targeted to be ready for occupancy in the first quarter of next year, while its first products are expected to be manufactured toward the end of the second quarter.

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A second phase of Entegris’ manufacturing center, where design and engineering work now are underway in advance of future construction, likely would add another 400,000 square feet, which would push the project’s total cost to $600 million and its number of jobs to 600, the company says. Another 300 jobs have been created related to the manufacturing facility’s construction.

The preliminary CHIPS agreement in June called for Entegris to receive an award of up to $75 million, which can be used on both phases of the manufacturing center. The additional $2 million announced Thursday will provide funding for to-be-determined company childcare initiatives that support a stronger workforce, an Entegris spokeswoman said.

Feds award $75 million to Entegris for tech firm’s new $600 million Colorado Springs manufacturing center

The Commerce Department said the CHIPS program will distribute funding to recipients for capital expenditures “based on the completion of construction, production and commercial milestones. The program will track the performance of each CHIPS Incentives Award via financial and programmatic reports, in accordance with the award terms and conditions.”

Entegris also received financial incentives from the state, local governments and business groups totaling roughly $124 million.