STATE OF NEW YORK
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER
GEORGE E. PATAKI, GOVERNOR

 
Press Office
518-474-8418
212-681-4640
http://www.state.ny.us/		 FOR RELEASE:
IMMEDIATE, Monday
September 23, 2002

GOVERNOR LEADS EFFORT TO TAP SEMATECH'S POTENTIAL TO HELP CREATE THOUSANDS OF HIGH TECH JOBS IN NEW YORK
Consultant Who Helped Austin, Texas Create Thousands of Jobs Hired in New York



Governor George E. Pataki today announced that the State has hired Austin-based consultant and economist Angelos Angelou to help New York State attract thousands of additional jobs in connection with International SEMATECH's decision to site its next generation computer chip development center at the Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics at the University of Albany.

For eleven years prior to forming his own company in 1995, Mr. Angelou served as an executive for the Austin Chamber of Commerce where he played a major role in attracting more than 400 corporations employing approximately 70,000 people to Austin.

"International SEMATECH's decision to locate at the Albany Center of Excellence was a tremendous victory for the Capital Region, for Upstate, and for New York State as a whole," Governor Pataki said. "Angelos Angelou played a central role in helping Austin, Texas create tens of thousands of high-tech jobs, and now he's going to help us accomplish the same goal right here in Upstate New York.

"We're thrilled that SEMATECH selected New York over our national and international competition, and now we're going to ensure that its vast job-creating potential is fully realized in the Capital District, the Hudson Valley, the Mohawk Valley and throughout Upstate New York."

The hiring of Mr. Angelou was approved at a recent board meeting of the Empire State Development Corporation (ESD). ESD has authorized a contract with Angelou, who is the Principal and Chief Economist of Angelou Economics (AE).

Chris Daverse, Manager of External Relations of SEMATECH, said "Austin's economic development officials, led by Angelos Angelou, recognized the importance of the semiconductor industry early in the game and then capitalized on Sematech's investment over twenty years. Adding Angelos to their development team shows how serious the State of New York is about their commitment to the semiconductor industry."

Angelos Angelou said, "Governor Pataki's vision and determination to put the semiconductor industry in the forefront of the New York economy has already produced significant results with IBM in East Fishkill and International SEMATECH North in Albany. Now, New York needs to get down to business by devising strategies to capitalize on SEMATECH's critical investment in the State. The technology renaissance in the semiconductor field will spin around the presence of 300 mm production facilities. The State of New York is one of the very few places in the world that is already impacting in a dynamic way the development of these new technologies."

AE is uniquely suited to help the State leverage the unprecedented opportunity presented by International SEMATECH's decision to locate in Albany. AE is an economic development consulting firm specializing in the site selection needs of the technology industry and the communities seeking to recruit them. AE Principal Angelos Angelou was the economic development director of the Austin Chamber of Commerce in the 1980's and is largely credited as being one of the key team members responsible for recruiting SEMATECH's headquarters in 1988. He also played an integral role in recruiting many of the high-tech companies that followed SEMATECH into Austin shortly thereafter.

ESD has approved a one-year, $150,000 contract for the AE firm. The AE's efforts will focus on helping New York State capitalize upon the unique opportunities presented by the agreement between New York and International SEMATECH. AE's work will be divided into three phases. During the first phase, AE will provide Empire State Development with "lessons learned" from Austin, as well as an assessment of the current state of the semiconductor industry in New York and its impact.

Building on the first phase, the second phase will entail developing a strategy to increase statewide awareness of the significance of the semiconductor industry's economic impact on New York and enhance the State's exposure to the global semiconductor industry. The third and final phase will focus on long-term strategies to identify and grow specific sectors within the semiconductor industry of New York.

The announcement of International SEMATECH North will provide a powerful complement to Governor Pataki's semiconductor initiative known as SEMI-NY. SEMI-NY is a comprehensive, statewide initiative to attract semiconductor manufacturing to the State. As a result of this initiative, IBM recently opened its 300 millimeter wafer fab facility in East Fishkill, a $2.5 billion investment that will create 1,000 new jobs.

Empire State Development Chairman Charles A. Gargano said, "Since first taking office, Governor Pataki has worked tirelessly to bring new, private sector jobs to New York, and he has succeeded. In fact, since 1995, New Yorkers have benefitted from the creation of more than 600,000 new, private sector jobs. The SEMATECH effort will help New York State continue this job-creating record of success in the months and years to come."

Governor Pataki announced the agreement with International SEMATECH North in July. International SEMATECH, a consortium of the 12 major computer chip manufacturers in the world, will house a $403 million semiconductor research center at the University of Albany. SEMATECH selected New York after considering sites in Europe, the Pacific Rim and across the United States, based on New York's leading position in chip research and development and the State's business-friendly environment.

The Albany facility will complement the first International SEMATECH facility, which is located in Austin, Texas. Since its opening in 1988, the Texas facility has had a tremendous impact on Austin and its regional economy. The Austin region's population has more than doubled since 1990, from about 600,000 to more than 1.2 million, and technology-related employment has grown to a total of 125,000. More than 200 semiconductor- related companies and more than 450 software development companies are now located in the region.

The International SEMATECH (Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology) research and development consortium includes: US firms: IBM, Intel, Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, Advanced Micro Devices, and Agere Systems (Lucent); European firms: Philips (Netherlands), Infineon Technologies (Germany), and STMicroelectronics (France); and Asian firms: Hynix (Korea), and TSMC (Taiwan).

The agreement between the State and International SEMATECH includes approximately $400 million in State and Industry support during the next five years, consisting of $210 million from the State (including $50 million previously announced for the Center of Excellence at Albany and included in the 2002-03 State budget) and $193 million from International SEMATECH and its member companies, including IBM.

The State's investment will be primarily for capital construction, equipment and specialized tools for International SEMATECH North research. International SEMATECH North will immediately employ about 250 researchers at the Albany site, and serve as a catalyst for private sector growth for years to come.

International SEMATECH was initially established in 1987 to increase the United State's worldwide market share of the chip industry and has since expanded its mission to be the lead R&D organization for worldwide semiconductor manufacturers. International SEMATECH's goal is to improve semiconductor manufacturing technologies for computer efficiency, consumer products and military weapon systems. International SEMATECH currently has a facility in Austin, Texas employing 600 researchers, focused on 200-millimeter computer chip technology.

In January 1988, International SEMATECH made a determination to establish its first high- tech consortium facility in Austin, Texas, after keen competition among a dozen states including New York, California, Texas, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Florida, Wisconsin, Colorado, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico and Missouri.

In 1988, New York State, despite advancing an approximately $150 million package to attract SEMATECH consisting of an array of zero-interest loans, sales tax exemptions on materials and personal property, real property tax reductions, energy efficiency incentives and workforce training funds, lost the competition to Austin, Texas.

The impact of International SEMATECH on the Austin regional economy has been dramatic:

 

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