This semiconductor firm is expanding its NY footprint. What it means for Dutchess County
A California-based semiconductor design company has set up shop in a Fishkill business center known for its hotels and medical offices with plans to expand its engineering workforce.
Advanced Micro Devices designs circuits used in cloud computing, data centers, gaming and personal computers.
The AMD facility at Westgate Business Center is being used for research and design to "advance leading-edge semiconductor innovation in the U.S.," according to Jeff Plate, senior director of Silicon Design Engineering Cores at AMD.
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How many jobs are coming to Fishkill
The company occupied the office space in October and is planning to bring 50 jobs to Fishkill by 2025. These jobs will include "entry level engineers and university intern opportunities to senior silicon design engineers." Its operation has about 25 employees on site, according to Plate.
AMD also opened a facility at the Linden Oaks Office Park in Monroe County and plans to bring a total of 165 jobs to New York, including those in Fishkill. Empire State Development is providing AMD with $5 million in tax credits for its commitment to create jobs.
The move comes as New York is ramping up investment in the semiconductor industry and the federal government plans to pour billions into the chip manufacturing industry, in order to cut off supply chain dependence on foreign countries. AMD is also expanding its footprint in India with a $400 million investment in the next five years and 3,000 new jobs.
"AMD is one of the global leaders in the microelectronics industry. This is great news that comes on the heels of OnSemi's more than $1.3 billion investment in their East Fishkill campus and IBM‘s commitment to quantum computing at their Poughkeepsie campus; home of the world’s largest fleet of quantum computers," said Assistant Dutchess County Executive Ronald Hicks.
The county along with industry leaders, education institutions and elected officials have been working together to provide more training opportunities in the Hudson Valley in order to ensure there is a skilled workforce to fill in the jobs.
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Dutchess Community College will be enrolling its first cohort of 30 students into its newly minted mechatronics program this fall. Mechatronics, described as "intersection of mechanical systems, electrical systems, control systems and computers," will train technicians and help fill the labor shortages advanced technology companies may be experiencing.
AMD chose to expand its operation into Dutchess County because of "access to highly skilled and experienced engineering talent coupled with the close proximity to world-class research universities and engineering programs," according to Plate, who is also the site leader of AMD's Hudson Valley Design Center. They will be working with universities, including Rochester Institute of Technology, to fill in their positions.
Saba Ali: SAli1@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-451-4518.
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Semiconductor company expands in NY: Here's the Hudson Valley impact
