Intel took our money, but hasn’t delivered on childcare promises

This piece was originally published in the Columbus Dispatch on August 4, 2026.

Then-President Joe Biden on August 9, 2022, signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law, creating a $280 billion investment in semiconductor research and manufacturing in the United States. 

Intel had committed to investing in Ohio about six months earlier, and the investment from the CHIPS and Science Act was able to increase what was already a $20-billion investment to a $28-billion investment. 

Intel’s planned Licking County project has been promoted as a once-in-a-generation economic opportunity that will reshape Ohio. Four years later, central Ohio is still waiting to see if the promise of semiconductor investment will lead to a “Silicon Heartland” that benefits the Ohio economy and working families.  

The $28 billion investment was meant to be more than just a blank check to corporations like Intel. In exchange for billions in taxpayer support, semiconductor companies promised good jobs, local hiring and training, and stronger communities.

One specific requirement was that Intel would present a workforce plan to the federal government detailing how it would provide facility and construction workers, as well as the impacted surrounding communities, with access to affordable, accessible, high-quality childcare.

Intel could meet that obligation through subsidies, agreements with existing providers, on-site or nearby care, backup care, or other creative solutions, but it was required to show a real plan tied to the central Ohio workforce and childcare landscape. 

However, in August 2025, the Trump administration let Intel walk away from many requirements, after an agreement that converted a CHIPS grant into a 10% equity stake in the corporation. 

Some of the benchmarks set by the Department of Commerce to hold Intel accountable that were rolled back include remaining neutral on unionization efforts, investing in apprenticeships, refraining from stock buybacks for five years, and creating affordable childcare options.

As part of the deal, the administration released $5.7 billion in CHIPS Act grants that had already been promised to Intel but were being withheld by the administration.

This money was sent to Intel without requiring the semiconductor fabrication plants that resulted from the additional investment of American tax dollars to be built in America. 

Intel’s commitment is not isolated

Other CHIPS-backed projects across the country have made commitments to improving childcare accessibility and affordability for their workforce and surrounding communities.

• In Central New York, Micron has committed to on-site childcare at its planned campus, purchased land for a childcare center, and pledged additional funding to expand existing local childcare and early learning capacity through partners like the YMCA of Central New York.
• In Texas, Samsung’s investment in Taylor and Austin includes financial commitments to close gaps in early childhood education in the area.

Intel should follow suit in Ohio and make childcare commitments based on the needs of the central Ohio communities that will make construction and permanent workforce needs possible.  

Childcare providers with the CEO Project are experts in the investments needed and have been advocating for crucial investments since Intel announced its plans to build in Ohio.

As Intel benefits from public dollars and reshapes central Ohio’s economy, its leaders must also invest in a chronically underfunded childcare system that working families depend on.

The working parents that Intel needs to construct their campus, provide their supply chain, and create semiconductors can’t take their shift or enroll in training without accessible, high-quality care for their children. Childcare providers cannot expand classrooms or hire early childhood educators without a real plan based on dollar amounts and timelines.  

Central Ohio’s childcare system is already stretched thin. Families face long waitlists and high costs. Providers operate on razor-thin margins while trying to attract and retain skilled early childhood educators.

This anniversary of the CHIPS Act should be a moment of accountability. Intel should be transparent about what it has done, and what it still plans to do, to support childcare in the region affected by its CHIPS-backed expansion.  

Four years after the CHIPS Act was passed, Ohio families and childcare providers are still wondering: Will this huge public investment help address the child care crisis and prioritize the workforce behind the workforce?