Going courting in Silicon Valley

By LARRY RULISON, Business writer
First published in print: Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Local economic development officials have been in Silicon Valley for the past week, scouring the area for companies that might want to reocate in the Capital Region to be near the $4.2 billion GlobalFoundries project.

They also are attending Semicon West in San Francisco, the largest trade show of semiconductor manufacturing suppliers in North America.

Those suppliers -- companies like Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron that make equipment used in computer chip manufacturing -- are expected to supply GlobalFoundries as it completes its computer chip factory in Saratoga County over the next two years.

"We've found that they are focused on our area, and they're looking for what New York has to offer," said Dennis Brobston, president of the Saratoga Economic Development Corp., the nonprofit marketing Luther Forest Technology campus in Malta where GlobalFoundries is building. "We can help them as they go through their challenges."

Brobston and other SEDC officials went out before Semicon West to talk to suppliers. They were introduced to companies by George Lee, a well known technology consultant who runs Glimmerglass Ltd., and Adrian Maynes, strategic marketing manager for M+W U.S., the company building the GlobalFoundries project.

Although Brobston wouldn't name any of the companies he has met with, he said he expects the total number to reach two dozen before the show ends on Thursday.

"We want meaningful conversations," Brobston said.

Brobston and SEDC are part of the NY Loves Nanotech group that is exhibiting at Semicon West and is also hosting its popular dessert reception tonight in San Francisco. The group is led by the Center for Economic Growth, the Albany-based economic development organization.

CEG has been leading the contingent for 12 years, and Brian Hannafin, senior vice president of business development and marketing at CEG, said that longevity "puts us in a very strategic position to hold conversations with suppliers and other industry executives about opportunities in New York,"

It appears that there must be some substance to suppliers looking to locate here. Brobston said there are two proposals to build a total of more than 100,000 square feet of so-called "flex space" at Saratoga Technology and Energy Park, which is located next to Luther Forest. Such buildings would be desirable to suppliers who might need a combination of office and manufacturing space.

"We're going to see new things," Brobston said.