There may be an opportunity for EDGE to redeem itself.
Apparently our competitors in Saratoga County were not quite "shovel ready" for a Chip-Fab either. Per last Friday's Albany Business Review:
Let's see if EDGE can pull off a coup.The Saratoga Economic Development Corp. has secured many of the permits required for the project.
"There are a lot of approvals in place," Tozzi said. "The generic environmental impact statement is in place. However, they still need to go through the site plan review process." [emphasis added]
3 comments:
I also smell a rat with this deal. AMD is acting a little too timid for a company that is set to get one third of their project funding from taxpayer funding. The article stated that “Shawn Connelly, the Town of Stillwater's supervisor, said his meeting with AMD also was positive.” The article quotes Connelly as saying that “ (AMD does not) want to put too much information out right now. They said they're on schedule for what their plans are but they didn't let me know what their plans consisted of." This statement begs the question as to what is all of the secrecy all about? Is local government simply placing a positive spin on the fact that AMD may be treading lightly by not having all of the entities up to speed in terms of having everyone abreast of their plans? Michael Relyea, head of the Luther Forest Technology Campus Economic Development Corporation said “As we move forward, there's got to be an increased level of communication between AMD and us as to what is exactly required. AMD wants to make sure the infrastructure that is put in place--such as power and water--meets the design for the chip plant . . .” Why, being so close to placing the shovel to the ground, would they not want to have everyone on the same page? Mr. Relyea went on to say “ . . . They don't have a shovel-in-the-ground date. No one's talking about that yet.” Could there be potential problems with a) the site, b) the funding, c) local government(s) or DEC regulatory pitfalls, that may exacerbate the project if any one of these aspects were to fail to come to fruition?
The Devil is in the details and the local governments are being kept in the dark. Why? Mohawk Valley EDGE would do well to contact the folks at AMD. Perhaps there is a little light at the end of this long dark tunnel.
AMD is the answer?????? I doubt they will be building anywhere in NYS.
Two weeks ago AMD reported 2007 net operating losses of $3.38 billion, $1.7 billion in the fourth quarter alone, and the company has $5 billion in long-term debt.
Less than two years ago, its stock was selling for more than $40. Late Tuesday it was going for $7.61 per share, continuing an upward trend after bottoming out near $5.
“Wall Street has left the company for dead,” financial analyst Douglas McIntyre wrote recently on the Web site: 247wallst.com.
And this is why economic development is generally pointless. If this area were business friendly, the copanies would make the effort to cover the legal bases. Instead, we have to waste money making a site "shovel ready" for a company that's getting beat by Intel and leaner, cheaper competitors.
Post a Comment