Google announces $1.5 billion data center expansion in Jackson County

[00:00:00]Google announcing a major investment in Jackson County this morning. The tech giant announced it will invest $1.5 billion to expand its data center in Jackson County over the next 2 years.

[00:00:11]The data center is in Bridgeport on the side of the TVA's former Widows Creek Coal Plant. And according to Google officials, the investment will help increase infrastructure capacity, support community education programs, and create thousands of construction and clean energy jobs across the region.

[00:00:27]Google opened the data center back in 2018 as a driver for internet traffic, part of a network that keeps the Google search engine and company products such as Gmail and YouTube up and running. Fox 54 spoke with Jackson County leaders about what today's investment means to the community.

[00:00:43]>> Every where I go, I say, "We got Google in our backyard." I mean, that that's uh that means a lot cuz Chattanooga ain't got it. I mean, you know, Scottsboro ain't got it.

[00:00:54]Bridgeport's got it.

[00:00:55]>> Sitting in a park that was built in part with grants from Google and local contractors, Bridgeport Mayor David Bubba Hughes spoke with us, reflecting on Google's plan to invest more than a billion dollars into the nearby Jackson County campus. For Mayor Hughes, Google is helping push business into the riverside town.

[00:01:13]>> All our businesses is doing good. I mean, our Family Dollar, Dollar General, our grocery stores, our Hardee's, our restaurants. I mean, everything's just picked up since all these construction workers come into town.

[00:01:27]>> Mountain Lakes Chamber of Commerce CEO Rick Roden tells us that for every job Google brings, more are right behind.

[00:01:34]>> For every job that Google has, and right now there's anywhere every day there's 250, 300 people on site uh that work at work at Google or work for Google or uh support Google, 250, 300. For every job that Google has supports nine other jobs in the community.

[00:01:52]Because all of our local businesses have opportunities. They might not work for Google, but they can work at Google. And during construction phase, you're looking at first time was close to 2,000 construction workers for the next 2 years.

[00:02:04]>> With those jobs and the support Google has invested into Jackson County, Roden says the county is just starting to see growth.

[00:02:10]>> All of a sudden it opens doors to where other companies look at us and say, "You know something?

[00:02:15]If they're there, we ought to look at Jackson County." So, we're getting more opportunities just because of Google.

[00:02:20]And all of a sudden, we can kind of almost pick and choose the best ones because the growth is coming. There's no question the growth is coming. We're getting more house tops. We're getting more business. Retail growth the last 2 years have been phenomenal what we've landed in the last 2 years. It's only the beginning.

[00:02:38]>> Google also announced a $550,000 donation to the Jackson County School District. This funding will provide STEM education kits for students in grades 4 through 8. State Senate Majority Leader Steve Livingston said Google's continued investment will have a lasting positive impact on family, students, and businesses across Jackson County.