Google celebration draws governor, area residents
Date Posted: 5/23/2008
By Paul Teague, News-Topic Local News Editor
In a sun-kissed celebration, Google's marriage to Caldwell County and its residents became complete.
During grand-opening festivities Wednesday at its data center in Lenoir, Google welcomed both young and old, giving area citizens the opportunity to witness the massive scale of the Internet giant's estimated $600 million investment.
North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley made his first appearance in Caldwell County in four years and took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Caldwell County and Google officials.
“This is important to us that you are here and managing it right,” Easley said. “We've got a lot invested in this.”
In order to attract Google to the Tar Heel state, Google received a host of local and state incentives, including no sales tax on electrical power and computer equipment, along with Caldwell County and City of Lenoir rebates on business and real estate property taxes for 30 years. Estimates of the overall value of the incentives total more than $200 million.
“We have to level the playing field with performance-based incentives,” Easley said. “The most important message is that a great county like Caldwell needs Google, but Google needs the great workforce that is North Carolina.”
Easley's last visit to the county was in 2004 and was due to very different circumstances. The governor toured flood-ravaged areas of the county, including Collettsville, following a pair of tropical storms.
“This is a much better occasion,” Easley said. “It's much better to be Santa than it is to be Scrooge.”
Registered attendees were bussed from Lenoir Mall to the data center site, located on approximately 213 acres off Harrisburg Road and Overlook Drive near N.C. 18. They were greeted with a live band, catered barbecue, activities for kids, Google demonstrations, snow cones and cotton candy.
Google Operations Manager Tom Jacobik said testing of the data center, which will house the company's expansive network of computer servers, has begun. While the first building is nearing completion, a second building on the upper tier of the construction site is being developed.
“It's still a work in progress as you can see,” Jacobik said. “We will continue to build on what we've got here.”
When finished, the Google site is expected to be a major routing center for the company's Internet search and applications engines along the U.S. East Coast. Aside from the investment, which totaled $172 million in business and real estate property at the beginning of the year, Google is projected to create up to 200 jobs.
Lenoir Mayor David Barlow said Google's arrival signifies a new era, following the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs in the furniture and textile industries during the past eight years.
“Lenoir has a history of having some of the country's top corporations call Caldwell County home,” he said. “Whether it's furniture or data centers, we are a can-do community.”
Caldwell County Commission Chairman Herb Greene said he believes Google is developing close ties to the community, particularly through events such as Wednesday's.
“What you are seeing happening is a two-way adoption,” he said. “We are one family. Google did something for us as a county, and Google has moved us into the 21st century.”
Google announces
United Way 211 initiative
During the afternoon festivities, Google announced that it has partnered with the Caldwell County United Way to provide 211 information service for county residents seeking assistance with charitable programs.
“Beginning (Wednesday), anyone in Caldwell County can pick up their land line phone and call 211, and they will be connected with a live person to give them the information they need,” North Carolina United Way President Jim Morrison said.
Google has joined with the United Way and NC211 in the initiative. Morrison said that 211 service will be available on cellular phones July 15.
“It's something we wanted to do for a long time,” United Way of Caldwell County President and CPO Chris Davis said. “We know in our community people struggle every day.”
County residents also can access 211 service online at www.nc211.org.
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