As President Joe Biden lauds a significant investment in semiconductor giant Intel, small business owners, like Ron Hardin of Maduro's Cigars, express concern over the potential impact on local commerce. During a recent visit to Intel's Ocotillo campus in Chandler, Arizona, Biden announced up to $8.5 billion in direct government funding, along with $11 billion in loans for chip plants nationally. This infusion from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act aims to dramatically increase America's stake in advanced chip production, from virtually nil to 20% by 2030, as reported by ABC15.
While the investment is poised to strengthen national security and boost job creation, Hardin's focus is on the immediate effect to his business' bottom line. His cigar shop and others in the vicinity were hit severely by the expansion work's traffic disruptions. "The impact was immediate," Hardin told ABC15. "Unless you knew how to navigate through the neighborhood to get here, folks just stopped coming." Hardin and other entrepreneurs have to now brace for the possibility of more disruptions as SRP has yet to begin construction on a second transmission line supporting the expansion, although no start date is announced.
Despite small businesses' challenges, government officials herald the move as a win for American innovation and workforce development. Intel's planned investments, supported in part by this funding, span Arizona, Ohio, Oregon, and New Mexico. Not only is this seen as bolstering the U.S. chip industry, but also as a direct initiative to create thousands of manufacturing and construction jobs. Yet Hardin remains skeptical, recalling the recent project's two-year disruption and questioning the potential for repeated consequences, "I'd like to make sure that we can bring some type of awareness to the legislators, state legislation and companies that big major corporations are doing this," Hardin explained.
Responses from SRP and the City of Chandler highlight efforts to minimize impact on local commerce and maintain access to business properties during construction phases. SRP contractors have maintained entry points to affected plazas, placing business access signs where necessary. "SRP has been in contact with the property management on access to this property, and worked with them to place business access signs into the complex when closures to certain entrances were necessary," SRP stated. Meanwhile, the City of Chandler topped off its portion of construction related to SRP's High-Tech Interconnect Project in February 2023, intending to provide long-term benefits to the community and local businesses. Small entrepreneurs like Hardin, though, are left to hope that these investments will eventually lead to a rebound in their sales after weathering an immediate storm.
