News - Step closer for AMD

The Town Board unanimously voted to approve legislation that would allow the building of Advanced Micro Devices at Luther Forest Technology Park.

While the town is still waiting for officials from AMD to commit to the project, this is a positive move forward, said Malta Town Supervisor Paul Sausville.

The vote ended a six-month process of working out details of the building project, submitting audits to the State and reviewing an environmental impact study.

“This is a huge investment by New York State, Saratoga County and the Town of Malta. It’s not only an investment of money, but of resources as well,” Sausville said.

Luther Forest Technology Park’s Planned Development District was originally approved in 2004, before AMD announced their tentative plans to come to the campus. Since their announcement, changes have been made to accommodate the needs of the California-based company and those of the neighboring community.

“The Towns of Malta and Stillwater, along with AMD, Luther Forest Technology Park and many consultants have worked thousands of hours to get us to this point. I want to thank all those involved but also remind them that this is another step in our long process of making Luther Forest the newest and most exciting technology campus in the world,” Luther Forest President, Mike Relyea, said.

The next step in the slow-moving process is for AMD to make a decision, which Sausville said he expects by the end of the year. AMD has until next summer to make a final decision if they wish to receive $1.2 billion in state incentives.

“Over the next few months we will stay positive and upbeat about the site,” he added. “When they make a decision, we will hit the ground running.”

In order to prepare for AMD, the county is in the process of installing a $79 million water pipeline that will serve the technology campus as well as AMD; five miles of roads are being built within the campus, and a bypass is under construction that will lead drivers from Interstate 87 to the campus instead of going through the village of Round Lake.

On Wednesday, AMD’s executive chairman Hector Ruiz took a tour of the 15,050-acre campus of which AMD would take up roughly half, while he was in town to meet with Malta officials about the site.

If AMD decides to open their computer chip plant to Malta, the $3.2 million project would bring more than 1,400 job openings to the area.