MALTA, N.Y. -- On June 23, 2006, the outlook for the multi-billion dollar Advanced Micro Devices looked a lot brighter.
Former Governor George Pataki had said, "Get ready! You're going to have new neighbors, you're going to have more neighbors, and this exciting region of America is just going to get more and more exciting in the 21st century."
But since the end of that legislative session, most of the players have changed.
CEO Hector Ruiz is stepping down, New York State is on its third governor, and there's new representation in Congress and Senate. Though those still in the game say they're still behind the project.
Now that nearly all the driving forces behind a push to bring AMD to the Luthur Forest tech park has stepped down, some people are concerned about the future of those plans. As Kaitlyn Ross reports, though, Luther Forest officials are promisng that construction at the future site is moving full steam ahead.
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos said, "As we have seen since the project was first announced, the lines of communication between the leaders of AMD and the leaders of the state are always open as we move ahead with this project."
Luther Forest Executive Director Michael Relyea said, "Leadership has been moving, but it's never wavered in their support at all."
The construction at the possible future site of the company is still moving full steam ahead. And in their book, so is AMD.
Relyea said, "We go to these town board meetings, we go to these planning meetings, and they're still there. They haven't walked away from the table. They're still coming into town regularly."
New York State alone has committed more than $1 billion to get the company into the site, along with millions committed by Stillwater and Malta to get the project up and running. But where does AMD stand?
Relyea said, "Committed is probably the wrong word to use. They just haven't made that final step that revolves around the financial and strategic planning of their company."
Which doesn't necessarily look bright. They've had layoffs worldwide and posted a $1.19 billion loss in their second quarter.
Relyea said, "We can only deal with the facts that we know. And what we know is that they are coming, we are going through meetings, and we can't deal with the hypothetical."
And no one will know for sure until they're forced to commit in July of 2009.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos said he has spoken with Ruiz who assured him that the Luther Forest project is moving forward.
In a statement Skelos said, “Even though Dr. Ruiz is stepping down as CEO, he told me he is staying on as Chairman of the Board and will be completely focused on manufacturing projects, including the planned chipfab facility in Saratoga County.”