Pure play foundry Globalfoundries has purchased an option agreement for about 66 acres of undeveloped land adjacent to its Fab 8 facility in Malta, N.Y.
The land purchase option increases the Fab 8 footprint for future development to support growing client and government technology development needs.
The land is located at the southeast end of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Saratoga Technology + Energy Park (STEP) campus.
Ron Sampson, senior VP and GM of U.S. fab operations at Globalfoundries, said that the growing consensus among the U.S. government is to invest in semiconductor manufacturing. That sentiment became painfully apparent as the COVID-19 pandemic hit causing supply chain interruptions globally.
Sampson said it is more important than ever to fast track growth plans at Globalfoundries to convert fabs to advanced manufacturing facilities in the U.S. The agreement option will help to expand U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed flaws in the global supply chain with large semiconductor plants in just a handful of locations. As a result, the U.S. is making an effort to expand the semiconductor industry in the country by proposing a $22.8 billion aid package. The funding would create a 40% refundable income tax credit for semiconductor equipment, $10 billion in federal funds to match state incentives to build factories and $12 billion in research and development funding.
The U.S. government considers the move to increase domestic semiconductor manufacturing as a matter of national security especially after the COVID-19 outbreak. Many experts believe that growth in regional manufacturing will be something that will need to happen to survive future pandemics or other global events.
Prior to the outbreak, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC) said it made plans to build a 5 nm state-of-the-art facility in Arizona and Intel is working with the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and the U.S. government to explore building a new facility in the U.S. or working jointly with other manufacturers for new fabs.
