Carborundum, or silicon carbide, is a material that can make semiconductors that perform better than regular silicon microchips. (Getty Images)
Two state grants totaling $9.3 million will help a training center for developmentally disabled adults in Cabot and a semiconductor project at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, officials announced Friday.
The Jobs 4 You Cabot Workforce Training Center in Lonoke County will get $2 million. The Multi-User Silicon Carbide (MUSiC) Fabrication Facility at UA is getting $7.3 million, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
“These investments will go toward two of my administration’s top priorities: opening professional doors for Arkansans, regardless of ability, and standing up to foreign adversaries like Communist China,” Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in the release. She announced the release of the funds alongside Secretary of Finance and Administration Jim Hudson.
“The MUSiC program will be critical as our nation brings semiconductor production back home and will help Arkansas develop the industry right here in our backyard,” Sanders said.
Hudson said that “beyond the construction of buildings, the real investment will be in those benefiting from the job training and advanced research happening at both facilities and the contribution they will make to our workforce of the future.”
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MUSiC facility
The University of Arkansas broke ground on the 18,660-square-foot semiconductor research and fabrication facility in August 2023. A National Science Foundation grant of $17.87 million is funding construction and operation, according to a 2021 UA press release.
The new facility will produce microelectronic chips made with silicon carbide, a material that performs more reliably than regular silicon chips under adverse conditions and at higher frequencies.
The governor’s press release said the facility will “help advance the development and commercialization of silicon carbide (SiC) power devices which will be used for military, consumer, industrial and healthcare devices.”
Having the research and chip production located in Fayetteville will help the U.S. reduce its reliance on imported chips from China, Sanders said.
The facility will bridge traditional university research and private industry’s needs while accelerating technological advances, Alan Mantooth, distinguished professor of electrical engineering and principal investigator for the facility, said in 2023.
Training center
Arkansas Enterprises for the Developmentally Disabled announced in February that it intended to spend $7 million on building the training center and two new transitional homes for developmentally disabled adults at risk of homelessness.
The 10,000-square-foot, $3.2 million training center will be built on 3.79 acres in Cabot, The Leader reported in February. The facility will open in 2026 and train up to 60 people annually, according to the newspaper.
The center will create 38 new jobs and serve North Pulaski, Faulkner, Lonoke, Prairie and White counties, according to the governor’s press release.
State Rep. Brian Evans, R-Cabot, said the training center will empower developmentally disabled adults in the area “by providing opportunities for skill development and meaningful employment.”
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