Google Picks N.C. for $600 Million Data Center, Up to 210 Jobs

Raleigh, N.C. — Google will build a data center in Lenoir, investing up to $600 million and creating as many as 210 jobs, Gov. Mike Easley announced Friday.

The search engine giant picked the Caldwell County site to help support its international operations. The facility will include a massive “server farm” designed to host and provide access to information Google gathers from around the world, stores and makes available.

State and local officials offered a variety of incentives to land the facility, including a Job Development Investment Grant of more than $4 million.

The win was not cheap. Google also will receive a variety of other incentives that are expected to push the package past $100 million. Caldwell County and the City of Lenoir have granted Google a 100 percent waiver on business property taxes and an 80 percent waiver on real estate property taxes over the next 30 years.

The Lenoir center would join a growing empire of Google locations. “We have data centers around the world, but do not disclose the specific number,” Barry Schnitt, a Google spokesperson, said.

Google already has a small presence in North Carolina, a five-person software operation in Chapel Hill.

The Google incentive package is far from being the most expensive the state has assembled to land a high-tech business. More than $280 million in incentives were needed in 2004 to land a new Dell manufacturing plant that opened in Winston-Salem in 2005.

“The data center we’re planning to build in Lenoir, N.C., will help support continued growth in our online services,” Lloyd Taylor, director of Global Operations for Google, said in a statement. “We look forward to joining the local community and are grateful for the support from the state and local governments throughout our evaluation process.”

The $600 million investment is the largest the state has secured as part of the job development grant program and provides a huge economic boost for a region that has been badly hit by layoffs in the furniture and manufacturing industries.

“This company will provide hundreds of good-paying, knowledge-based jobs that North Carolina’s citizens want,” Easley said in a statement. “This is the single largest investment in the state by a company awarded a JDIG grant, and it will help reinvigorate an area hard hit by the loss of furniture and textile jobs with 21st-century opportunities.”

The jobs will pay average wages of $48,300 plus benefits. The current average wage in Caldwell County is $27,300 plus benefits.

The N.C. grant was approved in December and will be spread over 12 years.

The state Department of Commerce has estimated that the Google project will add $1.06 billion to the state’s gross economic product over that time and produce a net state revenue benefit of more than $37 million.

Under the grant requirements, Google will receive funds equal to 75 percent of the state personal income withholding taxes generated by new jobs.

The grant was the 19th awarded in 2006. Since the program was launched in 2003, 54 have been awarded, generating a combined 20,000 jobs and $2.5 billion in investment, according to the governor’s office.

Google officials met with city and local representatives on Thursday night in Lenoir to announce the decision, which capped an intense recruiting process lasting more than a year.

To keep negotiations quiet, Google resorted to fictitious names. Google has also been deeply involved in negotiations with the state of South Carolina for a site near Charleston.

Google also has not ruled out locating a facility in South Carolina.

“We're continuing to evaluate a number of sites around the world, including the one we've confirmed at Goose Creek,” Schnitt said. “We hope to have more information to share in the coming months.”

The News-Topic in Lenoir quote Google senior leader Rhett Weiss as saying that there was more to the location decision than grants and tax breaks
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“It really wasn't the incentives, per se,” he said. “Lenoir had some fine infrastructure installed at one point for the furniture industry.

Google will begin its facility with a one-story building and hire up to 100 people initially, with jobs being filled by local candidates where possible, company representatives told the newspaper.

The Google site includes more than 220 acres of land. Construction is expected to last between 12 and 18 months.