ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Rochester has earned the federal Tech Hub designation created in the CHIPS and Science Act. The region is one of 31 selected after beating hundreds of applicants, which means that the region will be able to compete for federal funding to turn Upstate NY into a global hub for semiconductor development.

“With semiconductor plants and factories opening in New York State the supply chain that supports those will be here,” said Jim Senall, President Nextcorps “so we have this whole infrastructure that’s going to grow up around the semiconductor industry.”

This designation may mean that the region could become a globally-recognized semiconductor manufacturing hub in the next ten years which would bring economic development and more jobs for the community.

“In the short term, it builds up slowly but factories require a lot of people,” said Shelby Nelson, Chief technology officer of Mosaic Microsystem “modern factories require a lot of skilled labor and those are higher paying jobs.”

According to Karl Hirschman, Professor at RIT, semiconductors are what enable much of the technology we talk about today from artificial intelligence and robotics, to machine learning

“These really advance technologies are all because of semiconductors and microchips,”said Hirschman

This would also mean more chip manufacturing domestically so the U.S. doesn’t have to rely so heavily on foreign goods. “We’re also excited about the onshoring of chips doing a lot more domestic fabrication,” said Hirschman

The Tech Hubs Program that will invest between $50 and $75 million in each of 5 to 10 designated hubs.