As I mentioned on Wednesday last week, there was a strong likelihood that chip-maker AMD was going to build a new chip fab plant here in the Capital Region. Sure enough, the deal was confirmed on Friday. Though the factory won’t actually open until 2012 at the earliest and construction won’t begin for another couple years, I think it’s exciting news for everyone who lives in the are. The news will surely attract other companies to the area in antiicipation of the factory’s opening. Even if it is taking $1.2 billion of New York tax money — the same amount it would cost to build a much-needed light rail system in the region — to lure the company here, hopefully the long-term benefits will outweigh the investment. Of course, Jen and I also pay our taxes, but no one paid us even a dollar to move to Saratoga County… but the corporate welfare debate is one for another day.
For now, we’ll celebrate the positive economic impact this will have for all of us.
$3.2B AMD plant big lift to region:
ALBANY — Advanced Micro Devices Inc. will build a $3.2 billion computer chip fabrication plant at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County, in what Gov. George Pataki called the largest corporate investment in state history.
AMD, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., said the 1.2 million-square-foot factory — also known as a chip fab — would employ 1,200 people.
In exchange for AMD’s investment, New York state offered the company a $1.2 billion incentive package that includes capital grants, tax breaks and infrastructure improvements to the Luther Forest site in the towns of Malta and Stillwater. An economic ripple effect is expected to bring 2,000 construction jobs and as many as 3,600 additional permanent new jobs to the region — along with the hope of landing additional chip fabs in the future.
AMD expects to spend $2 billion at the plant during the first five years of operation.
“The Hudson Valley is going to be America’s next Silicon Valley,” Pataki said.
State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, called the deal a dream for the Capital Region.
“That dream has truly come true today,” he said.
1 response so far ↓
1 Chris Milian // Jul 10, 2006 at 6:29 pm
I posted the aerial photos of the site AMD is taking in Luther Forest Technology Campus on http://www.photosfromonhigh.com Hope you enjoy. Chris