While construction was well underway for a pair of semiconductor factories in Licking County east of Columbus, Intel had warned that the $28 billion project would be delayed as it awaited federal CHIPS Act funding. That funding has come through, although it isn’t as much as Intel wanted. The Biden administration has reduced Intel’s preliminary $8.5 billion grant to less than $8 billion. The reduction took into account a $3 billion contract Intel had been offered to make chips for the Pentagon, according to reports. “I do think Intel was merited the full amount, and it was unfortunate to see that it did not get that,” Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted told the Columbus Dispatch. “But we’re moving forward.” CHIPS Act funding released to Intel for Ohio plants, jobs What happened: Intel is getting the federal funding the company says it needs to build Columbus-area semiconductor fabrication plants. The Biden administration announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce awarded Intel up to $7.865 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS incentives program for commercial fabrication facilities. Why it matters: The award will support Intel’s expected Columbus-area investment of nearly $90 billion by the end of the decade, which is part of the company’s overall $100+ billion expansion plan, the administration said. Local philanthropist makes multi-million dollar donation to Dayton Children’s Local real estate investor and philanthropist Randy Gunlock’s multimillion-dollar donation to Dayton Children’s Hospital’s new mental health facility is more than a gift, as he sees it. He’s making an investment in young people across the region. Greener pastures: “Any time we make contributions to nonprofits, we consider it an investment. An investment in the facility and an investment in the community,” Gunlock said in an exclusive interview with the Dayton Daily News. Gunlock and his family’s foundation, known as the Greener Pastures Foundation at the Dayton Foundation, announced a $3 million unrestricted grant to Dayton Children’s. CareSource awarded TRICARE contract to provide benefits to the military What happened: The Defense Health Agency will turn to CareSource through testing implementation of new health support services through TRICARE, the massive health care program for uniformed military members, retirees and their families. Why it matters: TRICARE as a whole is huge, serving some 9.5 million beneficiaries. CareSource Military & Veterans has been awarded the TRICARE Competitive Plans Demonstration contracts for the Atlanta and Tampa, Fla. regions, the company said. Multimillion-dollar computer data center project proposed for Springfield What could happen: A large data center facility may be coming to Springfield after a Canadian company purchased a building at the city’s southeastern edge. A tax abatement document approved by the Clark-Shawnee school board indicates that 5C Data Centers USA, Inc. is seeking a property tax abatement linked to the purchase of an existing facility at 601 Benjamin Drive — across from the Dole plant in the PrimeOhio corporate park. Why it matters: “When this gets implemented and goes into place, it’ll be some of the most cutting-edge technology in the U.S.,” said Clark-Shawnee Superintendent Brian Kuhn. Dayton electric company AES Ohio files for higher distribution rates Dayton electric utility AES Ohio filed its application for higher electric distribution rates with Ohio regulators Friday. The company said it filed its request for a distribution rate review with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to increase its base electric distribution rates. How much? The utility gave regulators a heads-up the application was coming. The proposed numbers at work here: AES seeks a rate increase that would raise monthly electric bills by $21.75, a more than 14% increase for customers using a certain amount of electricity. Contact me: As always, my thanks to you for reading this newsletter. You can reach me at tom.gnau@coxinc.com. I’m also on X, LinkedIn, and you can find more of our business reporting at Dayton Business. What’s happening at the Dayton Mall? A lot, actually. Local social services are struggling: The current situation. | 
