High-Tech Behemoth Expands in Albany Area
Published Apr 15, 2006
In 2004, Forbes magazine picked the Albany metro area as a top spot for high-tech business. Philips Semiconductors could have told the magazine’s staff that – the global high-tech giant has been investing in and expanding its presence in the area for years.
A manufacturing facility producing integrated circuits for wireless communication, consumer electronics and other technologies, Philips’ East Fishkill plant employs more than 700 people. Since 2000, Philips has pumped millions of dollars into the plant, located in the Hudson Valley Research Park.
Philips Semiconductors, an affiliate of Philips Electronics of the Netherlands, is the world’s ninth-largest semiconductor company, with more than 4,000 employees in North America. At the Fishkill facility, the 100 millionth telephone chip was just produced, as well as devices for applications a little further from home, such as for use tagging and labeling components of the Great Wall of China.
“We’ve grown to be global suppliers,” says Dr. Wendy Arienzo, vice president and general manager of Philips Fishkill. “We’re doing a lot of exciting things at our Fishkill facility, really reaching out in a variety of ways to provide technology around the world.”
The company’s presence was one reason among many that Forbes rated the Albany metro area that anchors Tech Valley among the Top 20 Best Places for Business in the United States. The region’s No. 18 ranking topped Minneapolis-St. Paul; Charlotte; Dallas; and Phoenix, among others.
For their part, Philips executives have often cited the Tech Valley’s strong employee base, as well as the public-private partnerships that have helped it expand, as strong incentives for operating in the area.
“We count heavily on the talent pool in the area, and that pool is growing,” Arienzo says. “We’re in an area that’s a cluster of high-tech businesses, and so we’re able to recruit from the area and from the many universities that are nearby. And we do that two ways, talking to graduates and also through our summer intern program, where we have 14 students each year in our pre-professional program.”
Add in the tax breaks offered by being in an Empire Zone to the technological and personnel bonuses the Tech Valley offers, and the Philips picture gets even rosier.
“Philips is the beneficiary of some academic, intellectual, talent and financial things here, which keeps us committed to investing so we are a leading-edge company in terms of the technology and equipment we produce,” Arienzo says. “We’re doing everything we can to remain viable. We’re working on a number of Third-World applications, so that we’re providing social value as well as infotainment applications.”
Story by Joe Morris
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