Google plans to expand data center in Oklahoma

The company recently announced plans to spend $600 million on the additional data center at Google’s campus at the MidAmerica Industrial Park near Pryor, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast of Tulsa.

“We hit a home run on the initial phase,” Mayor Jimmy Tramel told the Tulsa World . “Now the city is always running the bases, running the bases toward something more, something better, a new building, a new project.

“They are a huge part of the community, and I mean that in every aspect.”

Officials declined to give a timeline for the project or how it would affect job totals. Google currently employs more than 400 people at its Mayes County campus.

“It will impact our economy somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000 to $200,000 per year for the next couple of years, just based on the part-time workers and the sales tax they bring in,” Tramel said. “Moreso than anything, it brings people here to live. They are good-paying jobs.”

David Stewart, chief administrative officer and a trustee of the Oklahoma Ordnance Works Authority, which oversees operations at MidAmerica Industrial Park, said Google’s decision shows it has confidence in the industrial park.

“It means that we can give them the resources and assets that they need to make a decision like that,” said Stewart.

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Information from: Tulsa World, http://www.tulsaworld.com