Metro

NY gets high (tech)

ALBANY — Billions and billions of dollars — and thousands of jobs.

IBM, Intel, Global Foundries, TSMC and Samsung plan to invest $4.4 billion over five years to create 2,500 permanent new jobs in New York and the next two generations of computer chips.

IBM pledged $3.6 billion of the total and promised to hire 950 high-tech workers mainly at its worldwide research headquarters in Yorktown Heights and its development and manufacturing facility in East Fishkill.

The state will invest $400 million in the State University of New York College for Nanoscale and Science Engineering in Albany as part of the plan.

Gov. Cuomo said the investments will also retain 2,500 jobs in Albany, Utica and Canandaigua as well as at IBM and create 1,900 temporary construction jobs in Albany and Utica.

He said IBM and its partners “could have gone anywhere on the globe” and chose New York.

IBM officials credited the state university system, state government leaders’ interest and the company’s 100-year presence in New York for deciding to expand in the Empire State.

The five companies plan to transform existing 300mm technology to 450mm, which will produce more than twice the number of chips processed on the 300mm wafers.

Intel separately agreed to establish its 450mm East Coast headquarters to help manage the project in Albany.

Cuomo announced the plan at an economic development forum in Albany yesterday that featured former President Bill Clinton, the governor’s old boss.

Clinton praised former federal housing secretary Cuomo and forum participants for recognizing the need for cooperation between the public and private sectors. “There’s not a single example on the planet of a successful country with a growing income and a growing job base that doesn’t have both a strong economy and an effective government working together on a coordinated economic strategy to create shared prosperity,” Clinton said.

IBM spokesman Scott Brooks said the new jobs will be “significant high-tech positions, highly trained technical jobs” aimed at designing new, smaller computer chips.

The chips will power advanced computers and systems of all sizes, including national security applications, officials said.

IBM plans to create 22- and 14-nanometer chips — smaller than the current 32- and 45-nanometer products, Brooks said.