Yahoo expected to announce plans for Nebraska facility
LA VISTA, Neb. -- In what's possibly the worst-kept secret in the state of Nebraska, Yahoo Inc. is expected to announce plans to build a new facility in La Vista.
A source with knowledge of the project confirmed the Internet company's plans on Thursday.
A formal announcement was expected Friday.
Gov. Dave Heineman was scheduled to hold a news conference Friday morning in La Vista to announce an economic development project that would bring jobs to the state.
Heineman's office wouldn't comment, other than to confirm Friday's news conference.
Earlier this year, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo applied for the biggest slate of state tax breaks available in Nebraska to help set up some operations in La Vista.
If the company goes ahead with the project, within four years it would have to invest at least $100 million and create at least 50 jobs with a minimum average salary of $68,700.
This week, Yahoo announced it was cutting 10 percent of its employees, or 1,500 people, citing a 64 percent drop in its third-quarter profit.
Yahoo last laid of workers in February. In that round, about 1,000 workers were cut loose, but the company's payroll returned to the previous level within months.
Yahoo is bracing for a deep downturn likely to extend well into 2009 by trimming $400 million from its annual expenses of $3.9 billion. Besides shedding 1,500 workers during the next two months, Yahoo may close some of its U.S. offices and assign more jobs to lower-paid contractors in other countries.
Shares of Yahoo were up 26 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $12.65 in Thursday trading.