In an effort to answer some questions that have accompanied the announcement that AMD will be building a $4.5 billion manufacturing facility in Malta, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce hosted representatives of the chipmaker and Luther Forest Technology Campus, where the factory will be located, on Friday, Oct. 10, at the Saratoga Springs Holiday Inn.
The newly formed Foundry Company will actually be taking over the construction and operation of the chip fab. The company is a joint enterprise between AMD and the Abu Dhabi Advanced Technology Investment Company, which will supply $2.1 billion, with the possibility of more investments down the road.
Despite the fact ATIC is investing the most money into Foundry (and will have a majority stake at 55.6 percent), AMD’s Manager of Global Community Affairs, Ward Tisdale, told a packed room on Friday that the board of directors will be evenly split between the two companies. In addition, AMD Senior Vice President Doug Grose will be Foundry’s CEO, and AMD Chairman Hector Ruiz will make a move to chair Foundry.
Other faces that Capital District residents have become familiar with, such as spokesman Travis Bullard and Steve Groseclose, director of global environmental, health and safety, will make the move to Foundry.
Tisdale dismissed concerns that a foreign presence could cast a shadow on the enterprise, similar to the Dubai Ports World controversy of 2006, in which public sentiment turned against a plan to put a Dubai-based company in charge of port security.
They are very smart; they are very shrewd and they know a good deal when they see it, said Tisdale of the Arab investors.
But the jobs on everyone’s mind are the 1,465 positions AMD said will be created when the fab is fully operation in 2012. According to Tisdale, most of those jobs will eventually be filled by local talent.
`Over time, most of the workers, if not all, will be from the local community,` said Tisdale. The plant would most likely be staffed by transfers from AMD’s Dresden, Germany, fab facilities when it first opens, however. As local residents learn the proper skills, their employment will be ramped up.
It is estimated that 200 to 300 jobs will be engineering-related, and will require an appropriate degree. Somewhere between 300 and 500 jobs will be fab technicians, who will need specialized training. Tisdale said the chipmaker has been in discussions with Hudson Valley Community College to create appropriate programs. Another approximately 200 jobs will be administrative and management positions.
Construction is expected to provide 1,600 temporary jobs.
The annual payroll for a fully operational facility is estimated at $88 million.
Tisdale said he anticipates the creation of another 5,000 `indirect jobs` in the area. Foundry will also be looking to local vendors whenever possible.
`We have a bias towards working with local vendors, absolutely,` said Tisdale.
Mike Relyea, executive director of LFTC, said that the chip fab’s arrival will go a long way toward attracting more clients to the campus, where he said around 500 to 600 acres of land are still available for development.
`My phone really hasn’t stopped ringing,` since AMD’s announcement, said Relyea.
Tisdale was also asked about questions raised by Intel, AMD’s primary competitor, regarding a cross-licensing agreement between the two companies that dates back to 1976. Intel says that deal with ATIC may violate that agreement’s promise not to share certain intellectual properties with third parties. Tisdale said the agreement was a `non-issue,` and that AMD’s lawyers had reviewed the issues before the deal was brokered.
`We respect their intellectual property rights, and we expect them to respect ours,` he said in regard to Intel.
The state will be offering Foundry $1.2 billion in grants and tax incentives for building in Saratoga County (see related story, page 5). The arrival of the fab is contingent upon the award of those funds, and also on the approval on the U.S Treasury Department’s Committee of Foreign Investments, which must approve of the of Foundry’s project because of the presence of foreign money.
A groundbreaking in mid-2009 is hoped for.“
