June 21, 2006 – State leaders are in negotiations with chipmaker AMD for a new $3.5 billion manufacturing facility in upstate New York, which could include up to $1 million in incentives, according to an Associated Press report.

Locations being discussed include the Luther Forest Technology Campus about 25 miles north of Albany, as well as a state-owned 800-acre site in central New York. State aid would include at least $500 million to support construction, and $250 million in tax credits. A proposed facility could create up to 2000 construction jobs for two years, with another 3000 jobs for companies to help support plant operations, according to Ken Green, president of the Saratoga Economic Development Corp.

Last year, AMD joined IBM, Infineon/Qimonda, and Micron as well as the state in investing $600 million over the next several years on research dubbed “INVENT” at the U. of Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering.

The reports of a possible New York fab come just weeks after AMD announced it will pour $2.5 billion into its facilities in Dresden, Germany, to convert Fab 30 to 300mm and expand capacity at Fab 36, moves that together could increase overall capacity at the operations by up to 4x by 2009. First 65nm production shipments are expected in 4Q06, with the cross-over from 90nm to 65nm production scheduled for 1Q07 and full conversion anticipated in July 2007. Officials claim the company reportedly is on track for 45nm volume production by mid-2008.