New York to get 1000 new jobs, chip plant

Eric Auchard

LAS VEGAS: Governor, George Pataki of New York is set to unveil plans to boost the economy of the Hudson River Valley with more than $2.5 billion in high-tech investments from an IBM-led group, the plan's backers said.

Big regional employer IBM, together with top customers Sony of Japan, California-based AMD and Infineon of Germany, have pledged $1.9 billion to build the centerpiece of the project -- a new semiconductor plant at IBM's existing Fishkill, New York facility.

The regional investment consortium will be unveiled during Pataki's annual state-of-the-state speech, his eleventh as governor, according to a statement from the governor's office.

The plan is set to create 750 new jobs, along with another 250 in various related research projects to be funded as part of a decade-long drive by the governor to boost the fortunes of a region. The region has struggled to regain its footing since employers such as General Electric Co. closed older manufacturing plants there in the 1980s.

The 380,000-square-foot plant is scheduled to begin operations in the second half of 2005 for use in producing chips for key IBM customers such as Sony.

IBM is working with Sony to help develop a new generation of microprocessor chip called "Cell," which Sony has slated to use in the upcoming-generation of its hit video game console, the so-called PlayStation 3.

In exchange for pledging to create and retain jobs, Pataki has promised to contribute $150 million in state funds to support the plant and related research projects into cutting-edge nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology refers to the study of atom-sized materials no bigger than thousandths of a human hair across -- the scale at which modern computer chip production increasingly operates.

IBM, which is based in Armonk, New York, and industry partners will plow hundreds of millions of more funding into advanced manufacturing research projects at state universities and private institutions in the region stretching from the state capital in Albany, south along the Hudson River toward New York City.

Specifically, ASML of the Netherlands has agreed to build its first major silicon wafer research facility outside of Europe in cooperation with customer and partner IBM. The state-of-the-art 300-millimeter wafer research center will receive $400 million from the two companies, ASML said.

Another $450 million will be allocated by IBM to establish another production line at Albany Nanotech, a high-tech materials research center within the University at Albany, part of the State University of New York.

Tokyo Electron, Applied Materials and other top makers of chip production equipment are also pitching in, according to the research consortium.

An IBM spokesman was not immediately available to comment on the investment plans.