Montana officials, with an eye on economic development, have been working with Google and Facebook to convince the technology giants to build data centers in the Western state.
According to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, leaders of the Bozeman-based Northern Rocky Mountain Development District visited Google representatives in the company’s Palo Alto, California, offices back in October.
That same day the paper reported Montana Gov. Steve O’Leary and state Department of Commerce Director Meg O’Leary attended a “mixer” with Google and Facebook team members. Based on a public records request from the paper regarding the meetings, the governor’s office provided a non-disclosure agreement from Google, but no documentation of communications with Facebook.
From the Bozeman Daily Chronicle report: “At a development district board meeting Monday in Belgrade, staff said the meeting in California was a success.”
According to the company, Google operates 14 data centers around the world; eight in the U.S., two in Asia and four in Europe.
Data Center Knowledge counts Facebook data centers at two – in Oregon and North Carolina – with two more under construction and server space leased in numerous other facilities.
Switch eyeing Michigan for data center
In other data center news, Nevada-based data center, cloud and managed services provider Switch, which controls the SUPERNAP data centers, is working to build a new facility in the Steelcase Pyramid, a 660,000-square-foot facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan, now vacant, but originally constructed by office furniture manufacturer Steelcase.
Switch wants some advantageous tax exemptions before it agrees to invest $5 billion and create at least 1,000 jobs in the area, according to Michigan media outlet MLive.
“It’s Michigan’s to lose,” said Adam Kramer, SVP of strategy for Switch in an interview. “Pass this and we come. Don’t pass this and we won’t.”
