Advanced Micro Devices will be eligible for Empire Zone economic benefits as part of the $1.2 billion package that is being used to attract the computer chip maker to the Luther Forest Technology Campus, said county officials.
The county’s Empire Zone Administrative Board passed a resolution in November to add 756 acres in both Malta and Stillwater within the tech park to the county’s Empire Zone. Empire Zone aid was part of the deal AMD negotiated with the state in 2006.
AMD, based on Sunnyvale, Calif., and Austin, Texas, has announced plans to build a $3.2 billion plant in the Luther Forest Technology Campus. The plant would create a minimum of 1,200 jobs, officials have said.
New York State’s Empire Zone program was created to stimulate economic growth through a variety of state tax incentives designed to attract new businesses to New York and to enable existing businesses to expand and create more jobs.
Today, there are more than 9,800 certified businesses employing more than 380,000 people in 82 Empire Zones statewide.
To participate in the Empire Zones program, a business must first be located in an Empire Zone, or qualify as a regionally significant project, and become zone-certified. To qualify for certification, a business must be able to demonstrate that it will create new jobs and/or make investments in the Empire Zone and be consistent with the local zone’s development plan, including a cost-benefit analysis.
Later this month, the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors plans to take a step toward getting benefits for the company by certifying AMD as a regionally significant business.
It is important that we get the zone revision done for AMD, Wilton Supervisor and county Empire Zone board Chairman Arthur Johnson said.
After it passes the board, Empire State Development will also have to approve the certification.
AMD’s Empire Zone benefits are expected to be worth more than $250 million in a 10-year span. Under an agreement signed in December 2006, AMD also qualifies for a $650 million cash payment from the state if it finalizes its plans by July 2009.The state has also committed $300 million in infrastructure investment needed by the plant.
Under the Empire Zone program, AMD would receive state income tax credits for its investments, and also for property tax payments to local communities and schools.
AMD representatives are visiting the county Wednesday through Friday, Dec. 12 to 14. Mike Relyea, executive director of the Luther Forest Technology Campus, said that AMD would go before the planning boards of Malta and Stillwater as well as the two town boards. They have yet to release a concrete timeline for the plant.
Despite the lack of details on the AMD project, the Saratoga Economic Development Corp. signed an agreement with the Saratoga County Water Authority on behalf of all Luther Forest tenants, including the proposed AMD chip fabrication plant, to purchase water from the $67 million county water system that is under construction.
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