Amid the pending shutdown of an NXP fab in upstate New York, the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp. (HVEDC) is moving to fill the void: It is making a big push to lure IBM Corp. to set up a chip-packaging plant in the Hudson Valley area, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal.

No decision has been made on the location of the plant. As recently reported, NXP plans to close a fab in East Fishkill, N.Y. in 2009, as part of a major restructuring at the chip maker. NXP's fab in East Fishkill employs 700 workers.

The entire restructuring of manufacturing, R&D and support at NXP, the former Philips semiconductor division, will cost an estimated $800 million, save $550 million annually and affect approximately 4,500 NXP staff, or about 15 percent of its workforce.

East Fishkill is part of the so-called Hudson Valley. IBM also has a large 300-mm fab in East Fishkill. Encompassing nine counties that stretch 150 miles from just outside New York City nearly to Albany, the Hudson Valley is the fastest growing part of New York State.

To fill the loss of NXP, the HVEDC is pushing for a previously-announced, chip-packaging plant in the area, according to the report. The complete article can be read here.

In July, New York Governor David Paterson announced significant new investments by IBM and the state. The state will provide a total of $140 million in economic development grants, leveraging more than a ten-to-one private investment of $1.5 billion from IBM.

The investment will go toward three separate and complementary components of a comprehensive projects: the expansion of IBM's operations at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the University at Albany (Albany NanoTech), the creation of a new, advanced semiconductor packaging research and development center at a to-be-determined in upstate New York, and the upgrading of IBM's East Fishkill facility in Dutchess County.

At the time, the state said it would invest $50 million toward the establishment of a new, 120,000-square-foot semiconductor packaging center at a to-be-determined location in upstate New York. This center will be established, managed and owned by the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, with IBM conducting operations at that site. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) will also be a research partner in the new packaging facility.

It is expected this public-private partnership will ultimately create over 675 jobs.

So far, the location of the plant has still not been determined. Update New York is said to be in the running. But Hudson Valley also ''is fighting for it,'' said Anthony Campagiorni, president and CEO of HVEDC (New Windsor, N.Y.), at a press event here.

The HVEDC said it is a one-stop shop for companies considering relocating or expanding in the nine counties it serves: Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Ulster, Sullivan, Columbia and Greene County.