July 24, 2009 Politicos talk chips at 'fab' groundbreaking By DREW KERR
MALTA Sen. Charles Schumer brought a few props with him to Fridays groundbreaking for the GlobalFoundries computer chip factory.
In one hand, he held a bag of potato chips, in the other a computer chip wafer..
One, he said, represented Saratoga Countys past potato chips are said to have originated in Saratoga Springs the other stood for the regions future..
"Now people are going to know Saratoga for another kind of chip a computer chip," Schumer said in his remarks before a crowd of around 300 who gathered at the site where the computer chip maker is beginning to build its manufacturing facility..
Schumer wasnt the only one with a forward-looking mindset..
The highly anticipated computer chip factory, or fab, was heralded by several officials who spoke at the event as a "transformative" development that will help transition the region from its manufacturing past into a future based on high-tech industry. .
"This is not just a groundbreaking; this is the beginning of a process that will truly transform our economy," said former Gov. Geroge Pataki, who was in Malta three years ago when plans for the fab were first announced..
Officials have estimated GlobalFoundries operation will employ 1,400 once it becomes operational in 2012. Another 5,000 jobs are expected to be created indirectly..
Land at the Luther Forest Technology Campus recently purchased by GlobalFoundries has been cleared over the last several weeks. Construction of the factorys foundation and steel frame has begun.
