The agreement establishes a two-year window from July 2007 to July 2009, in which AMD can choose to initiate the building of a new 300-mm fab in Saratoga County, N.Y. AMD's execution of the agreement comes after New York's Public Authorities Control Board (PACB) voted last week to approve a $650 million grant for AMD.

In June, AMD originally disclosed plans to build a fab in New York. AMD (Sunnyvale, Calif.) anticipated the need for a new facility and has selected the Luther Forest Technology Campus as an ideal site. The timing of the final decision depends on a number of factors, including future market demand, according to AMD.

If conditions become right for AMD to move forward, construction would begin sometime between July 2007 and July 2009. Similar to AMD's other fabrication facilities, construction of the building is expected to take about a year with another year needed for the installation of equipment and tools.

The project has the potential to directly create approximately 1,200 new jobs, along with thousands of indirect jobs through supporting construction and infrastructure projects.