AMD New York chip fab subsidy attacked

MOST CHIP FABS aren't located in the US or the UK. Why not? Because workers there are too expensive, of course.

But AMD, as we know, plans to build a fab in New York state. The only reason New York is of any attraction to the chip maker - apart from a certain kudos it may feel it deserves at home for slapping 'Made in the USA' on a chip or two - is money. Yep, the State of New York will subsidise the plant in the same way the Saxon government does in Dresden.

And according to local media reports this subsidy could run to a million bucks per job.

Naturally this rattles a few cages. Latest inhabitant of one such rattled cage is Peter Kent, president of OrthoSystems Inc., who has addressed his concerns on the matter to the Albany Times Union.

"Does it really make sense for state taxpayers to subsidize AMD at $1 million per job to create Third-World level jobs? asked Kent in his missive, here.

The chip fab, Kent notes, "is similar to a food processing plant where there are three levels of workers: mostly low-skilled workers who watch and "feed" the machines, a few highly skilled technicians who maintain the machines, and management."

I doubt it will create much spinoff businesses. While the Capital Region may gain 1,200 so-so jobs, is this really best way to revitalize upstate?"

Kent thinks the mooted $1.2 billion AMD subsidy would be better spent on a biotech centre. "AMD has not yet committed to building their Luther Forest plant and I doubt AMD really cares," he writes. µ