In today's TU on page C3 is an article stating AMD is slashing 10% of its work force because of lower sales. How can they even think of building a new plant in Malta. We're sure to end up like Schenectady when GE decided to lay off all their workers. I like to see good growth in an area, but have very mixed feeling about AMD.

Companies always announce these types of cutbacks. They are justified in different ways, but ultimately they are a PC way to trim the deadweight from their workforce. People feel better about themselves when they are downsized rather than fired for poor performance, but that is ultimately what it comes down to. My company cuts about 5% annually, but by the end of the year, we always have just as many people as we started with.

AMD has two options: Build in Malta or go out of business. If they stagnate and try to regroup, Intel will get so far ahead of them that they will be forced out of business. Their only path forward is to get out in front of Intel from a technology standpoint, and that is only accomplished by investing in state-of-the-art infrastructure.

The other option (go out of business) is a real option, too. That would involve someone else buying them. The new company would also need to compete with Intel, so they would also need the Malta facility.

As has been the practise in the recent past, AMD has sent the Town another reassurance that the most recent financial news should not be read as an indication that they are not coming. At the same time, they are not ready to sign on the line yet.

I am nervous about NYS and Malta investing in AMD. It seems like they are gambling with taxpayer money.

There will never be a guarantee from anyone. State Farm has had lay-offs, all the banks have had layoffs, Verizon, etc. At the very worst case scenario, if the infrastructure is built and something crazy happens to AMD where they don’t build, then it is as equally attractive a site to some other company. Looking at the success of the Albany Nanotech and SemaTech North investments (and the risks associated with those investments); these are the only way NYS can attract employers to this business-hostile environment.