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High-tech win lures President: HVCC-chip fab partnership attracts Obama administration [Albany Times Union, N.Y.](Times Union (Albany, NY) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sep. 18--TROY -- The stage was set months ago for President Barack Obama's visit planned for Monday to Hudson Valley Community College when executives from GlobalFoundries first invited the President to the groundbreaking for their $4.2 billion computer chip factory at the Luther Forest Technology Campus. Although Obama couldn't make the July 24 event, Vice President Joe Biden considered attending, and even had an advance team take a tour of Luther Forest and nearby Malta. "Ultimately they decided to do something earlier in the month and do it at Shenendehowa High School," GlobalFoundries spokesman Travis Bullard said, referring to Biden's July 9 trip to Saratoga County. But that initial interest by the Obama administration in the GlobalFoundries project -- the only computer chip factory currently being built in the United States -- appears to have sparked the ultimate decision to have the President visit the region on Monday. F. Michael Tucker, president of the Center for Economic Growth, the Albany-based economic development group, said he was contacted by Obama's Council of Economic Advisers in late July with questions about how the region was able to attract the GlobalFoundries project. The conversation quickly moved to work force development and local higher education institutions, Tucker said. Hudson Valley's $13 million TEC-SMART facility, being built next to Luther Forest in Malta, was also discussed. TEC-SMART is a renewable energy and semiconductor manufacturing training center that's expected to groom hundreds of workers for GlobalFoundries and other clean tech jobs. The 43,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to open in January. "When you talk to the GlobalFoundries team, they're worried about filling the 800 technician jobs" inside the factory, Tucker said. "It's important that as a region we focus on our work force development plan." Hudson Valley spokeswoman Paula Monaco said the college was first contacted by the White House on Wednesday. But college administrators, she said, reached out to GlobalFoundries earlier when it appeared the President was considering a visit to Luther Forest, asking if the college could be involved because of the relationship between TEC-SMART and the chip factory's future work force. Dennis Brobston, president of Saratoga Economic Development Corp. -- the Saratoga Springs nonprofit that created Luther Forest -- said he was called by the White House about six weeks ago. "They were talking about GlobalFoundries," Brobston said. "They were focusing on high-tech jobs." Brobston said that Obama's staff was interested in knowing what the region did to attract GlobalFoundries -- and how that could be duplicated in other parts of the country. "They always had good questions," Brobston said. Brobston would have liked Obama to have picked Luther Forest for his visit, but he understands the security problems associated with bringing the President to a former logging forest where the construction project is going on. "We are very happy for Hudson Valley," Brobston said. The White House's decision to highlight the Capital Region's private-public, high-tech economic development initiatives is also a boon to the area's Democratic congressmen, Paul Tonko of Amsterdam and Scott Murphy of Glens Falls, who will both be attending Monday's event. Murphy is emphasizing his role in bringing Obama to the region. "Shortly after being elected Congressman Murphy spoke to the President and personally requested he visit Upstate New York to see how our region is becoming a world leader in 21st-Century jobs," said Murphy spokesman Josh Schwerin in an e-mail. Murphy's office and the White House have been in continuous discussions about a potential visit and have spent the last week working on the details of the visit, Schwerin said. Murphy was sworn into Congress in April after a protracted special election and recount to replace Kirsten Gillibrand in the heavily Republican 20th Congressional District. Murphy won by a slim 399-vote margin against Republican Assemblyman Jim Tedisco. He is considered a prime target by Republicans in 2010. HVCC is located in Tonko's heavily Democratic district; the Luther Forest site is in Murphy's district. Obama's visit comes at a time when his strong approval in New York state is slipping, particularly among Republicans and independent voters. A majority of registered voters in New York state (57 percent) rate Obama's performance in office as "excellent" or "good," with 23 percent rating his performance as "fair" and 20 percent as "poor," according to a poll released this week by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. His approval has dropped six points since July, when 63 percent of voters gave him "excellent" or "good" job performance marks. Obama will be joined at Monday's event, by Jill Biden, the vice president's wife, who teaches at a community college not far from the White House. "The President asked Jill to join him because she has seen first-hand the power of community college educations to set her students on the path to success and opportunity," White House spokeswoman Moira Mack said. Irene Jay Liu can be reached at 454-5081 or [email protected]. Questions on the visit When will Obama be here? The President is scheduled to fly into Albany International Airport on Monday morning and speak at 11 a.m. at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy. Will the general public be able to attend? So far, the White House hasn't announced a process to provide access. Will it affect traffic or cause airline delays? Almost certainly in the area around HVCC on Route 4 and Williams Road. Shorter delays are possible on the route from the airport. Airport delays are expected to be minimal. To see more of the Albany Times Union, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.timesunion.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Albany Times Union, N.Y. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |