A slide from a Ballston Spa Central School District budget presentation shows enrollment impact from the opening of the first GlobalFoundries plant. Image via the district’s March 20 Board of Education YouTube livestream.
MALTA — After billions of federal and state dollars were invested in GlobalFoundries, a semiconductor manufacturing company headquartered in Malta, the Ballston Spa Central School District stands to benefit from the windfall, perhaps for decades to come.
As GlobalFoundries plans to build a second plant in Malta, school officials are trying to determine both the enrollment and financial impact the new plant might have. “Next year right now is financially difficult, but the future is actually quite bright for Ballston Spa because of that plant, no other reason,” said Clerk of the Board and Records Access Officer Brian Sirianni in a Board of Education meeting on March 20.
When the first GlobalFoundries plant opened, an immediate impact was felt on the district’s enrollment. The number of total students jumped from 4,185 in 2011 to 4,322 in 2012. The increase of 137 students was the first time enrollment had climbed in years. Since then, enrollment has steadily declined from 2012 until the present day, when students number around 3,860.
Sirianni said that predicting the enrollment impact of the second GlobalFoundries plant would be difficult. Compared to 2011, today’s housing market is in significantly worse shape, with inventory rates being especially low. “That’s why we’re seeing so many apartment complexes being built in the area; literally hundreds and hundreds of units,” Sirianni said.
When it comes to the district’s finances, a second GlobalFoundries plant is nothing but good news. Sirianni said that in the first year or two, the district could see an additional few hundred thousand dollars. “But it’ll grow into the millions like it did before,” Sirianni said. “So that will offset our loss and, in fact, starts to subsidize the rest of the district.” Sirianni said the second plant could benefit the district financially for the next ten to fifteen years.
Construction on GlobalFoundries’ second plant is expected to begin this year. The company estimates that more than 1,500 manufacturing jobs and about 9,000 construction jobs will be created.
