The U.S. Department of Commerce has launched the CHIPS Women in Construction Framework, a set of best practices aimed at increasing the participation of women and economically disadvantaged individuals in the construction workforce. As part of this initiative, Intel Corporation and Micron Technology have made voluntary commitments to the Framework.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo emphasized the importance of increasing the number of women in construction, stating, "If we are going to meet the national and economic security imperatives of the CHIPS Program, we are going to have to figure out how to fill the hundreds of thousands of jobs we are creating, and we won’t fill those jobs without growing our construction workforce to include more women."

Intel Corporation's Chief Global Operations Officer, Keyvan Esfarjani, expressed the company's commitment to supporting the hiring and training of more women in the construction field, saying, "With leadership comes responsibility and we’re committed to supporting our contractors and other stakeholders in their efforts to hire and train more women in the field."

Similarly, Micron Technology's Executive Vice President of Global Operations, Manish Bhatia, highlighted the company's focus on developing the next generation of construction careers, stating, "Through PLAs and with the support of our community partners, we are creating pathways for all, including women and veterans in construction, while addressing barriers to entry."

Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su emphasized the importance of the CHIPS Women in Construction Framework in ensuring that all talent is utilized, stating, "To fulfill the promise of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and to rebuild the nation’s economy from the middle out and the bottom up, we’re making sure that no talent is left untapped."

Moving forward, companies that have adopted the Framework will work with the CHIPS Program Office and local partners to implement the best practices outlined in the Framework. While adopting the Framework is not a requirement for receiving CHIPS funding, the Department of Commerce welcomes all companies to implement its best practices in their construction projects.