CHIPS Act: Packaging House Readiness Assessment

Anonymized pursuit: a packaging house explored DARPA MTO BAAs for a CHIPS-scale manufacturing expansion without facility economics or workforce narrative.

Challenge

Leadership assumed any federal door would work for a domestic capacity expansion—without diligence materials CHIPS reviewers expect.

Approach

Compared CHIPS manufacturing incentive criteria vs DARPA MTO research BAAs
Built readiness gap list: facility economics, workforce plan, supply-chain partners, national-security framing
Scoped a go/no-go on CHIPS packaging before committing full proposal spend

Outcome

Clarified CHIPS as the primary pathway for domestic capacity; reserved DARPA for advanced microsystems R&D where the technical story fit.