County reveals details of Dept. of Defense technology contract potentially worth $289 million

Osceola County released details of a U.S. Department of Defense advanced packaging contract Tuesday. The award is potentially worth over $289 million.

The DOD made the announcement — one paragraph full long on scientific jargon and short on details — on Nov. 3 on its website. County Manager Don Fisher did make note of the contract — and the initial gag order from the government and the DOD — during his comments at the end of the Nov. 13 Osceola County Commission meeting.

“It’s a good, affirmative thing in the economic development business,” he said at that meeting. “I think it’s the only local entity with a contract like this.”

At the meeting, Commissioner Cheryl Grieb said the contract is a sign of the years of work that has occurred worldwide to bring opportunities like this to the area.

“It is a result of the leap of faith taken when we created that industry here,” she said.

Tuesday, Osceola County, in a release, provided some details in the investment into the county's NeoCity technology campus, after the U.S. Army embargoed any further details about the contract. The funding will be used to speed up efforts to create a U.S. based semiconductor advanced packaging manufacturing hub at NeoCity.

"This award includes components to develop the needed workforce for production and will ultimately lead to more jobs for Osceola County," part of the county's release said. 

The goal, from the county standpoint, is to, "Continue to establish the infrastructure for Osceola County and the Center for Neovation to grow its leadership position in semiconductor microchip packaging and integration -- providing for enhanced functionality and improved operating characteristics."

The five-year contract has an initial funding allocation of $3.65 million, and up to $120 million through October 2028, with added options of up to $169 million, depending on the outcome of near-future research in semiconductor technology.

The Army's initial announcement said agreement calls for the development of, "A domestic, trusted, pure-play and open-access advanced packaging ecosystem for low-volume/high-mix production of 2.5-D and 3-D Advanced System Integration and Packaging secure solutions.”

This marks the second major federal investment in NeoCity in the last two years. In 2022, the county, BRIDG and SkyWater received a $50.8 million Build Back Better Regional Challenge Grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

Fisher, who chairs a coalition called the Building Central Florida’s Semiconductor Cluster for Broad-Based Prosperity, working to maximize the Build Back Better grant, said partners like the University of Central Florida, Valencia College, the School District of Osceola County, and others are part of the effort."

“We are creating new jobs and a highly skilled workforce as result of the investment we made in infrastructure at NeoCity,” Fisher said. "The award is building on years of hard work and is another testament to the validity of our goals, and the diligence of all of our partners to create new opportunities. We are creating a pipeline like no other to allow our residents to enter the 21st Century workforce at a level few would have thought possible a few short years ago.”