Saratoga County is giving Silicon Valley a run for its money—or at least its computer chips. GlobalFoundries (GF), a leader in the global semiconductor manufacturing game, announced today that it was relocating its corporate headquarters from Santa Clara, CA to Malta, NY, the site of Fab 8, the company’s most advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility. The change goes into effect immediately.
Per a statement from the company, GF has invested more than $15 billion in Malta’s Fab 8 facility over the last decade in order to support innovation and manufacturing capacity. (The company broke ground on Fab 8 in 2009, and it was up and running three years later.) This year, GF says it plans to double its investment in semiconductor manufacturing to expand global capacity, with $500 million headed to the Malta location alone. The purpose of moving its headquarters to Malta was to address the soaring demand, globally, for the type of semiconductors (or chips) fabricated at the Saratoga County plant, ones that are used in everything from smartphones and laptops to automobiles and video game consoles (there’s currently a global shortage in them).
“Today, GlobalFoundries’ Fab 8 in New York is a $15 billion advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility and one that is playing a key role in the transformation of our industry to meet rapidly accelerating demand,” said CEO Tom Caulfield in a prepared statement. “As a native New Yorker, son of a NYC firefighter and manufacturer at heart, I am personally proud to be making Upstate New York GF’s new headquarters. Our amazing 3,000-person workforce, in partnership with our local, state and federal leaders, will together build on GF’s success, solidifying the Empire State’s place as one of a few world-class semiconductor manufacturing hubs at a time when our national and economic security depends more and more on what we can make here at home.”
Caulfield made the announcement at Fab 8, along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, adding: “I would like to thank Senator Schumer for his steadfast support for GF over the years and his tireless leadership in forging a bipartisan coalition in Congress that together with the Administration fully appreciates the need for a secure and resilient domestic semiconductor supply chain. The time for the Endless Frontier Act is now, and once approved by Congress and signed into law by President Biden, GF stands ready to do our part by expanding in upstate New York and creating many more high-paying American jobs. Our ambitious goal is to double our capacity at this site in the years to come in partnership with our customers, local, state and federal governments. We can do this.”
GF company employs more than 15,000 workers globally, 7,000 of which are based in the US and nearly 3,000 at Fab 8 in Malta.
