AMERICA’S wealthy, lured by the mineral springs, flocked to Saratoga during the 19th century. Gilded-Age figures such as J.P. Morgan, the financier, summered there. The race course, which opened in 1863, became a huge draw. Even James Bond placed a flutter at the Saratoga track in “Diamonds are Forever”. Yet, until recently, Saratoga did not have much else going for it. Although colleges and universities crowd the Greater Capital Region of New York, the five-county spread where Saratoga sits, there were few jobs around. Things are different now.
19世纪，美国的富人们被当地的矿物温泉所吸引，纷纷涌入纽约州萨拉托加这个小镇。镀金时代的一些名人如金融家J?P?摩根就是在那里避暑的。1863年开业的赛马场也具有超强的吸引力。就连詹姆斯?邦德在《007系列之永远的钻石》里也曾在赛马场赛道上投下赌注。然而，直到最近，萨拉托加还没有什么其他方面值得一去的。尽管大州府区的院校林立，五大县也正好分布于萨拉托加周围，但是过去这一带的工作机会极少，如今的情况不一样了。
Thanks to a cold call placed by the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation in 2005, pitching the area as an ideal site for a factory, GlobalFoundries, a semiconductor manufacturer, is building a $4.6 billion, 2m-square-foot campus in a Saratoga forest (above). The main site, a former secret missile-testing range, is as big as six American-football fields. The Semi-Conductor Association estimates that the five-year cost of building and operating a factory making the wafers needed for semiconductors is $1 billion dearer in the United States than elsewhere. Luckily, New York state offered a $1.4 billion incentive package. Some resent the subsidies, but the state anticipates a return of $2.54 for every dollar spent on the project.
由于萨拉托加经济开发公司于2005年的一次意外造访，该地区被选定为一家半导体厂商“全球晶圆”的理想建厂地，要在萨拉托加森林区（见上图）建成一座耗资46亿美元，面积达两百万平方英尺的园区。其中主址原为一处秘密的导弹试验靶场，相当于六个美式足球场的面积。半导体协会预计在此处建成及运营一家生产半导体晶片的工厂的五年成本比在国外要高出10亿美元。幸运的是纽约州政府为此提供了14亿美元的激励方案。尽管有些人不喜欢这种补贴，州政府仍期望在该项目所投入的每一美元能得到2.54美元的回报。
The investment will also create 1,600 direct jobs and about 8,000 indirect ones, creating an annual payroll of some $300m. The first hires come from all over the world, but about 50% are local, and GlobalFoundries expects this proportion to grow. It is working with local colleges and universities to create a labour pool for the future. More than half the jobs require at least an associate’s degree (ie, one granted by a technical or community college) in electronics or semiconductor manufacturing. Along with other high-tech companies, GlobalFoundries is working closely with Hudson Valley Community College, which has a dedicated semiconductor-training campus, called TEC-SMART, nestled in the same forest. It shares the space with local high-schoolers. “In a way we’re preparing for jobs that don’t exist yet,” says Joseph Dragone, a district superintendent.
该项目的投入也将直接创造1600个工作机会和间接创造8000个工作机会，每年发放的工资总额约3亿美元。首批雇员来自世界各地，但约有50%的雇员是当地人，全球晶圆公司希望此比例有所增长。该公司与当地的大专院校合作为未来打造人才储备库。有一半以上的工作岗位要求至少有电子或半导体制造专业的大专学位（即由专科学校或社区大学授予）。全球晶圆公司同其他高科技公司一起，与哈德逊谷社区学院（Hudson Valley Community College）紧密合作，该学院拥有一个名为“TEC-SMART”的专门用于半导体相关培训的园区，也坐落于同一片森林区。当地的高中生也能共享此资源。“从某种程度上来说，我们正在为尚未出现的工作机会做准备。” 该地区一位负责人Joseph Dragone说。