Gov. Kathy Hochul needs to set aside $200 million in the next state budget to pay for infrastructure improvements at business parks in the northern state to attract PC chipmakers and other high-tech makers. York’s role in the U. S. semiconductor industryFollowing a scale-up in the nanotechnology complex at SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Albany, New York, photographed Monday, Jan. 24, 2022.
ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul needs to set aside $200 million in the next state budget to pay for infrastructure improvements at business parks in the upstate component to attract PC chipmakers and other high-tech makers.
Hochul had previously revealed in his state policy program released earlier this year that he sought to set aside a significant amount of money in his next budget proposal to pay for improvements to “shovel-ready” sites in the northern part of the state. which are designed for the production of factory chips. However, until now he had not indicated the amount of dollars he wanted to make available.
Hochul named his grant plan FAST NY, which stands for Shovel-Ready Tracts New York Focused Attraction.
The state has 4 major sites advertised for chip companies. They come with White Pine Commerce Park on the outskirts of Syracuse, Marcy Nanocenter on the outskirts of Utica, Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County and WNY STAMP in Genesee County.
Luther Forest already houses GlobalFoundries’ Fab 8 chip factory, while Marcy Nanocenter houses a near-finished chip factory being built through Wolfspeed.
Most of the world’s largest chipmakers, in addition to GlobalFoundries, plan to build new domestic factories to take advantage of a $52 billion production incentive program designed to fight China’s growing influence in the chip industry, which is considered important to economic and national security interests. In the United States, cash would be allowed through a pending federal law known as the CHIPS Act.
Most of the larger chipmakers that are planning large expansions under the CHIPS Act have chosen other states for their new plants. However, Micron, the largest memory chip maker in the United States, still doesn’t know where to build, and GlobalFoundries has announced it will build its new plant in Luther Forest.
There may be other lesser-known chip companies that could also be from New York and take advantage of the program.
While the Luther Forest and Marcy Nanocenter sites already have significant infrastructure compared to the other two sites, they would want significant application upgrades to meet the desires of the new plants, which use significant amounts of water, herbal fuel, and electricity.