April 23, 2010 Malta approves GlobalFoundries' request to expand chip plant The Business Review (Albany) - by Robin K. Cooper
GlobalFoundries received Malta planning board approval this week to expand the $4.2 billion computer-chip fabrication plant currently under construction by 400,000 square feet.
The company, which has not yet committed to building the addition, is in the process of constructing a 750,000-square-foot chip-production complex in Saratoga County..
We made clear to the planning board that the decision about whether or not to expand is still pending, said Matt Jones, a partner at Jones Ferradino in Saratoga Springs, which represents GlobalFoundries on land development matters.
The expansion may allow an increase in overall staffing, said Arthur Kaplan, project manager for M+W U.S. Inc., the contracting firm overseeing the construction project.
GlobalFoundries and M+W staff have said for the past year that the number of construction worker jobs could total 1,600.
If the expansion moves forward, it will create more work for mechanical workers, pipe fitters and electricians.
That demand could be addressed by asking the town to permit longer construction hours or by increasing the total number of workers on site, Kaplan said.
Crews installing steel and setting the concrete potentially could complete additional work by extending their construction schedule by weeks or months.
M+W has anticipated that the fab will be ready for equipment by September 2011. That date won't change with the expansion, Jones said.
GlobalFoundries officials have said that the proposed additionwhich would increase the complex to 1.15 million square feet including new manufacturing space and a larger utilities building to support itwould cost in excess of $2 billion.
Although the actual expansion is substantial, there was not any major environmental impact of the project, said Caleb Stratton, planner for the town of Malta.
The chip-fabrication company has declined to commit to the larger project while it seeks an additional $300 million in tax incentives from the state.
Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari (D-Cohoes) confirmed last month that GlobalFoundries was negotiating with the lawmakers on an incentive package.
Those talks continue at a time when the state has been unable to adopt a budget and close a $9.2 billion deficit.
Canestrari has said that GlobalFoundries is too important to ignore.
The state previously approved $1.3 billion in tax breaks and cash incentives to convince GlobalFoundries to begin building the chip plant in New York.
The chip plant is expected to begin production in 2012.
GlobalFoundries has forecast that it will hire up to 1,400 permanent workers to operate the Malta plant. The proposed expansion is not expected to impact that number.
GlobalFoundries spokesman Travis Bullard said last month that the company was considering the expansion to increase its production capacity after it acquired new customers for its 300 millimeter computer wafers.
GlobalFoundries has two other 300 millimeter wafer manufacturing plants operating, one in Germany and the other in Singapore.
But the company said that expanding the Malta plant would be the most cost-effective because construction workers already are on site.
