In the midst of "The Great Recession" the last month’s announcement by Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York that a consortium composed of IBM, Intel, Samsung Electronics US, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), and Globalfoundries, will be investing $4.4 billion over five years to create R&D facilities in Albany, Utica, and other cities in upstate New York, for the purpose of applying nanotechnology to manufacture smaller and more efficent computer chips (nanochips).
This investment also means that over 2500 existing jobs will remain in New York and 2500 new jobs will be created directly by the consortium, slong with an estimated 1900 construction jobs that will be created to renovate existing and to construct new facilities.
To help support the R&D work, the state government of New York will direct $400 million, also over a five year period, to SUNYCollege of Nanoscale Science and Engineering in Albany. In addition, it is expected that further investment and job creation will result from the purchase of goods and services by the members of the consortium from local businesses.
Although the announcement was greeted with praise by the Business Council of New York State, it was greeted with more cautious optimism by the local newspaper and by local government officials.
