The social media giant will build in Central Oregon, investing up to $200 million on a new facility.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
Facebook will build in Central Oregon again, and its third data center will also be its largest.
The social media giant will expand in Prineville, investing up to $200 million on a new facility.
Ken Patchett, the Facebook west region director of data center operations, announced the project on the Prineville Data Center Facebook page. The new center will employ the same design to cool the building, using natural air transfer that Facebook pioneered in its first two data centers, Patchett wrote.
“We expect that data center construction will continue to support thousands of jobs in the regional economy and generate millions of dollars in economic impact,” he wrote.
(SOURCE: Bend Bulletin)
The newest data center will measure 487,000 square feet.
While many large industries rely on tax breaks to reduce operating costs, they usually win those favors in exchange for the promise of high numbers of jobs. Data centers are different. They don’t need many people – 147 work at Facebook’s Prineville site – just power, water and Internet connectivity.
Since data centers can be anywhere, they have enormous negotiating leverage with small communities and use that leverage to win large tax deals. That’s why Facebook and Apple (both in Prineville), along with Google (The Dalles) and Amazon (Morrow County) are all building rural data centers.
(SOURCE: OregonLive.com)
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