ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Semiconductor maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc., lured by about $1 billion in state incentives, will build a multibillion dollar chip manufacturing plant in upstate New York, creating 2,000 permanent jobs, a state Assemblyman said Friday.
AMD, based in Sunnyvale, Calif. chose to locate the new $3.5 billion plant on a 600-acre site in Malta, about 25 miles north of Albany, said Assemblyman Ronald Canestrari, an Albany County Democrat.
''It's a done deal,'' Canestrari said.
The company had also been considering another site in the central New York town of Marcy the state purchased 25 years ago, officials said.
The state is providing about $1 billion in incentives including grants for construction and equipment, tax credits and other Empire Zone benefits, according to a legislative aide familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal wasn't to be announced until later Friday.
Gov. George Pataki said Friday morning he hoped to officially announce a deal later. He would not immediately divulge details, but said the incentives would not cost the state any money this fiscal year.
State incentives offered to the company would still need legislative approval.
In addition to the permanent jobs, building the chip-making plant would create about 2,000 construction jobs for up to two years and help add another 3,000 jobs to companies created to support plant operations, Ken Green, president of the Saratoga Economic Development Corp., said earlier this week.
''We're thrilled,'' said Matthew Maguire, a spokesman for the Business Council of New York State. ''This is great news for upstate and New York state no matter how you look at it. Our high tech assets are our best competitive advantage and that advantage just got even stronger.''
Worldwide chip sales are expected to total $249.6 billion this year, a 10 percent increase from last year, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.
AMD is Intel Corp.'s biggest rival in the market for the microprocessors that act as the brains of personal computers.
The company already has a presence in the Albany area.
In 2005, AMD, three other computer chip makers and the state announced they would spend $600 million over the next several years on a research, education and economic development project at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the University at Albany. The project is focusing on creating the next generation of computer microchips while limiting costs.
AMD is also taking part in a $100 million project at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy to create the Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations, or CCNI. Funded by the state and IBM Corp., the CCNI is expected to be one of the world's top 10 supercomputing centers and will focus on reducing the time and costs associated with creating nanoscale materials, devices, and systems.