GlobalFoundries, politicians talk expansion

MALTA, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The message on Tuesday was clear: invest in America’s future by bringing back manufacturing. GlobalFoundries opened its first chip manufacturing site in Malta 15 years ago, the new investments will go towards expanding the existing site and building a new one next door. 

“This is the future for upstate New York. This is the future for America, that we’re not making these things overseas anymore. We’re not gonna let foreign countries hold us hostage, they’re gonna be made right here in America and in Malta,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The semiconductor, or microchip, market is expected to double over the next decade. When the new chip fabrication site is fully operational, GlobalFoundries expects to produce more than 1 million chips a year, tripling its current output and that includes one specifically for the military.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said this announcement is not just exciting for the Capital Region but for the nation as a whole. 

“The Department of Defense will finally have a steady, secure, domestic supply of these chips. That’s a big deal, that is a big, big deal,” said Raimondo.

The Department of Commerce awarded GlobalFoundries a record $1.5 billion grant to build a new fabrication site and expand the existing one, as part of the CHIPS and Science Act.

Another $1.6 billion will be covered by loans and $575 million will be invested by News York state. The rest will be covered by the company. The project is slated to total more than $12 billion.

GlobalFoundries President and CEO Dr. Thomas Caulfield said the expansion will create 1,500 permanent manufacturing jobs. 

The company laid off about 220 employees in 2022. Caulfield said there may be potential to rehire some of those employees.

“We are always looking to build our workforce and part of our industry, the cyclicality, has ebbs and flows in employment. More times than not we are growing more than we are shrinking,” said Caulfield.

Governor Kathy Hochul believes this is the beginning of a historic shift that will change the nation’s trajectory by bringing back manufacturing.

“Never again can we be so dependent on foreign supply chains and all the uncertainty around political circumstances that we have no control over. We can’t let our economy come down to that,” said Hochul. “We are competitive, we don’t like to lose.”

A timeline for the project was not clear, however GlobalFoundries did share plans to develop workforce training programs with local colleges and universities. 

$15 million will be invested in cultivating a local pipeline of talent, which will also include internship and apprenticeship programs, as well as K-12 STEM outreach.