Intel will spend US$7 billion over the next two years to revamp three U.S. manufacturing plants, and the company’s CEO called on other U.S. companies to also invest in the future as a way to combat an economic recession.
Intel will update manufacturing plants in Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon to build new 32-nanometer processor chips, Paul Otellini, the company’s president and CEO announced Tuesday.
Intel sees the tough economic times as an opportunity for investment in the future, Otellini told the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. “Tough as these times are, we are not blinking,” he said. “Today, I am pleased to announce our intention to stamp the words, ‘made in America,’ on even more Intel products in the months and years to come.”
He called on other U.S. companies to join Intel, even as dozens of companies are laying off workers. “A secure future requires investment in areas that will give rise to new industries and new ideas,” he said. “We can’t look to government to do this.”
The three U.S. plants will support about 7,000 Intel employees and “multiple thousands” of contractors, Otellini said.
(More to come.)