GlobalFoundries has announced its expansion plans for its most advanced manufacturing facility in upstate New York over the coming years. The plans include immediate investments to address the global chip shortage at its existing Fab 8 facility in Malta, as well as construction of a new fab on the same campus that will double the site’s capacity.
The announcement was made July 19 as the company convened leaders from government and industry to progress the national discussion around solving U.S. semiconductor supply chain challenges. CEO Tom Caulfield was joined by U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo, former Pentagon officials, and executives from leading companies throughout the semiconductor supply chain.
GlobalFoundries officials said the company will invest $1 billion to immediately add an additional 150,000 wafers per year within its existing fab to help address the global chip shortage.
Following that, the company plans to construct a new fab that will create more than 1,000 new direct high-tech jobs and thousands more indirect jobs including high-paying construction jobs for the region.
Following the investment model of Fab 8, GlobalFoundries is planning to fund the new facility through private-public partnerships including customers, federal and state investments. The new capacity will serve the growing demand for secure, feature-rich chips needed by high-growth markets including automotive, 5G connectivity and the Internet of Things, the company said. The facility will also support national security requirements for a secure supply chain.
These investments to expand GlobalFoundries’ U.S. manufacturing footprint are part of the company’s broader global expansion plans that include the recently announced new fab in Singapore and $1 billion planned investment to expand in Germany, all to meet the growing demand from customers worldwide.
“Our expansion and job creation in Malta requires a new economic model, based on the bold public-private partnerships being championed in Washington by visionary leaders Senator Schumer and Secretary Raimondo, as well as close collaboration with our customers,” said CEO Tom Caulfield. “Our industry is expected to grow more in the next decade than it did in the past 50 years and GlobalFoundries is stepping up to do its part as we work together to address the growing demand for technology innovation for the betterment of humanity.”
“We are honored to be joined by government and automotive leaders, national security experts, and our valued customers to continue the critical discussions needed to create a reliable supply of American-made chips to support the U.S. economy and national security.”
“I’ve led the fight to establish historic federal incentives for semiconductor manufacturing and R&D to strengthen the domestic semiconductor supply chain that is critical to our national security and global competitiveness, including addressing the chip shortage impacting industries across the economy, all in hopes of bringing us to announcements like this today,” said Schumer. “Today’s announcement is a win-win-win: a win for jobs in the Capital Region, a win for GlobalFoundries, and a win for U.S. government, automakers, and other critical industries that desperately need chips.”
GlobalFoundries employs more than 15,000 worldwide with 7,000 people across the U.S., and nearly 3,000 at its headquarters in Malta, New York. The company has invested more than $15 billion in its Fab 8 facility over the last decade to support innovation and increase manufacturing capacity.
For more information, visit www.gf.com.