KTVZ.com has received confirmation from Apple that the company plans to build a new data center on a 160-acre lot in Prineville, Oregon. The land was reportedly purchased for $5.6 million from Crook County. A February 15th filing first identified Apple, Inc. as the purchaser of the land, which Apple later confirmed:
Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet confirmed Tuesday that “we purchased the land and it’s for a data center,” but could not speak to details beyond that, other than to say it will be a "green" facility.
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Facebook's data center in Prineville, Oregon
Word of the possibility of a new Apple data center in Oregon was first reported in December when it was revealed that Apple was in discussions over the location. The new data center would be near a recently opened Facebook data center in the same area.
Apple has been working hard to expand its data center capacity to handle iCloud and other services, having invested $1 billion in the North Carolina center and revealing a master plan that could see the size of that facility double in the future. Apple also maintains a smaller data center in Newark, California and has been building out minor additional capacity in Santa Clara, California near its corporate headquarters in Cupertino.
Top Rated Comments
"Meh, it is only a few jobs. It's not a big deal."
America.
Construction workers to build it.
Landscapers to maintain the grounds.
Service/Maintenance jobs.
Utilities income.
Taxes paid to the State/County/City.
Other companies may be attracted to the area (Facebook recommended it to Apple).
On and on...
You can't measure the economic impact on the number of jobs alone.
A very happy side effect of Apple's success.
For me, it makes it easier to pay Apple's prices knowing that things like this are a result - however indirect it might be.:D
It's the missing link to removing my need for large hard drives all together.