By Oregon Small Business Association,
In recent months, both Google and Facebook have completed or announced continued expansion of their already significant presence in the State.
Facebook can be said to have led the current phase of Oregon-based technology growth. It broke ground on it’s first data center in Prineville eight years ago. Now, the Company – which recently boasted over 2 billion users worldwide – plans to build two more large data centers in the Central Oregon town. Together, the new buildings will provide almost a million square feet of space for the servers used to process the information that ends up on Facebook pages everywhere and an administrative center. Once the two new buildings are complete, Facebook will have spent an estimated $1.5 billion and will have over 2 million square feet of operating space. For comparison purposes, the Oregon Convention Center in Portland features about 1 million square feet.
In March, Google opened it’s Taylor Lake data center in The Dalles, adding to a presence in the Columbia River Gorge town begun in 2006. The building is the first phase. Google projects it has invested $1.8 billion in the area, and will employ about 250 people once Taylor Lake is fully staffed. This is in addition to large number of construction workers required to build the facilities. The Company has also focused on charitable giving in the local community, including $1.4 million in local grants, much of which has assisted local schools.
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