In a flurry of activity following weeks of waiting, chipmaker GlobalFoundries signed a deal with local labor leaders, bought land in Malta and formally committed to building a $4.2 billion manufacturing facility on the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta in a matter of days.
A formal letter of commitment was submitted to the state on Tuesday, June 9, that clears the way for $1.2 billion in state cash and tax breaks to begin being transferred to the company. AMD which spun off its manufacturing elements into GlobalFoundries in March made an informal commitment to build in Malta last year.
The commitment letter `officially initiates the construction phase of the Fab 2 project,` said a statement from GlobalFoundries.
`It was three years ago this month that we announced plans to build and operate the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility in the world in upstate New York,` said GlobalFoundries Chairman Hector Ruiz in a statement. `We have had tremendous support form the people of New York, and it is with great pleasure that today we announce our official commitment and the start of the construction phase of this exciting project.`
On Wednesday, the purchase of 223 acres of land at LFTC was affected. On Monday, June 15, GloFo consultant M+W Zander will begin accepting site development bids, and a groundbreaking ceremony is slated for July.
Last week, Gov. David Paterson announced that an agreement between GlobalFoundries and local labor groups had been struck. The agreement largely ensures union-scale pay for those working on the construction and mentions a commitment to using local labor whenever possible.
The site plan still remains under consideration by the Town of Malta Planning Board, which has taken the unique step of tackling the large application in three parts. On Tuesday night, the construction of temporary structures on the site was approved in addition to a site disturbance approval made earlier this year.
Only approval of the final site plan remains, and with recent developments that goal has come within striking distance.
`For final site plan approval, it’s just a matter of the grunt work and working through the remaining technical issues,` said town Building and Planning Coordinator Anthony Tozzi. `That’s largely dependent on how quickly the GlobalFoundries team is in providing the town engineer with what he needs.`
The towns of Malta and Stillwater stand to receive compensation through GlobalFoundries under a development agreement. Malta, where most of the plant’s 1.3 million-square-foot footprint will sit, will receive $4 million over time, with $1 million earmarked for the construction of ballfields at LFTC. Stillwater is to receive $1 million.
The state incentives will take the form of $650 million in cash and $550 million in tax breaks, to be distributed over the next 10 years through the state’s Empire Zone program. Run through the Empire State Development Corporation, the program is designed to attract businesses to the state that might otherwise choose to build elsewhere.
GlobalFoundries operates manufacturing facilities in Dresden, Germany, that once belonged to AMD.
Construction of Fab 2 is expected to take about two years, and it will take another year or more for the plant to ramp up to full operation. Once it does so, it is expected to employ 1,500. Construction will create about 1,600 jobs, in addition to 2,700 construction-related jobs.
M+W Zander has already begun hiring members of its Fab 2 construction team through a local job fair on Wednesday, June 10. “