Choleric
08-03-2008, 09:22 PM
BY RICK RUGGLES
©2008 OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10396870
State and local officials are negotiating with Yahoo, a major Internet search engine, to build a data center in the Omaha metropolitan area, a person close to Gov. Dave Heineman confirmed Saturday.
Negotiators are "at a very serious stage" in those talks and Yahoo might decide within five or six weeks, the person said.
Heineman said in an interview Saturday afternoon that the state desires such companies.
He said Nebraska "would love to have a high-technology company like Yahoo come here. . . . High technology is a business sector that we are aggressively recruiting, particularly in the Omaha metropolitan area."
Paul Landow, Mayor Mike Fahey's chief of staff, referred questions to the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. Two representatives of the chamber, Rod Moseman and Karla Ewert, declined to confirm or deny that they were in discussions with Yahoo.
"I can't comment on projects we may or may not be working on," said Moseman, vice president for economic development at the chamber.
Omaha City Planning Director Steve Jensen said he knew of "nothing other than rumors."
Data centers typically house computer systems and components. The region has had considerable success recruiting such companies.
Google, another search engine company, is building a large data center in Council Bluffs, a $600 million, 200-employee project along U.S. Highway 275. The center will process Internet searches for Google users around the world.
Google also has purchased a second Council Bluffs site, a 1,000-acre parcel north of the Bunge soybean processing plant. The site is expected to be the second part of Google's data center.
Iowa announced last month that Microsoft Corp. would open a new data center in the Des Moines area.
Microsoft has not said how large the center will be or how many jobs will be created, but it's believed that the investment would be at least $200 million.
Perot Systems Corp., a Texas-based information tech firm, said last month that it plans to build a facility in Lincoln and add 150 jobs there.
Omaha and Council Bluffs are both among the top 10 desirable U.S. locations for new high-security data centers, a type of development that generates top-paying jobs with high-profile employers, according to an analysis by the Boyd Co.
That firm said the annual operating expense for a data center in Omaha is about $13 million, less than half the cost of operating a similar facility in New York. Among the advantages for cities such as Omaha are lower electricity costs and fiber-optic connections.
The person close to Heineman said he was not sure how many jobs the Yahoo project had the potential to create. He said the negotiations involved building a facility in Douglas County or Sarpy County.
Yahoo's most recent company-built data center, in Quincy, Wash., is 140,000 square feet.
At a Microsoft project in San Antonio, about 75 jobs will be created, paying up to an average of $70,000 annually. The company is investing $550 million in a 400,000-square-foot building.
Heineman met with Yahoo officials in the spring and has had discussions with them since.
The person close to the governor said state and local administrators were working with Yahoo to find a location for the data center.
©2008 OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10396870
State and local officials are negotiating with Yahoo, a major Internet search engine, to build a data center in the Omaha metropolitan area, a person close to Gov. Dave Heineman confirmed Saturday.
Negotiators are "at a very serious stage" in those talks and Yahoo might decide within five or six weeks, the person said.
Heineman said in an interview Saturday afternoon that the state desires such companies.
He said Nebraska "would love to have a high-technology company like Yahoo come here. . . . High technology is a business sector that we are aggressively recruiting, particularly in the Omaha metropolitan area."
Paul Landow, Mayor Mike Fahey's chief of staff, referred questions to the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. Two representatives of the chamber, Rod Moseman and Karla Ewert, declined to confirm or deny that they were in discussions with Yahoo.
"I can't comment on projects we may or may not be working on," said Moseman, vice president for economic development at the chamber.
Omaha City Planning Director Steve Jensen said he knew of "nothing other than rumors."
Data centers typically house computer systems and components. The region has had considerable success recruiting such companies.
Google, another search engine company, is building a large data center in Council Bluffs, a $600 million, 200-employee project along U.S. Highway 275. The center will process Internet searches for Google users around the world.
Google also has purchased a second Council Bluffs site, a 1,000-acre parcel north of the Bunge soybean processing plant. The site is expected to be the second part of Google's data center.
Iowa announced last month that Microsoft Corp. would open a new data center in the Des Moines area.
Microsoft has not said how large the center will be or how many jobs will be created, but it's believed that the investment would be at least $200 million.
Perot Systems Corp., a Texas-based information tech firm, said last month that it plans to build a facility in Lincoln and add 150 jobs there.
Omaha and Council Bluffs are both among the top 10 desirable U.S. locations for new high-security data centers, a type of development that generates top-paying jobs with high-profile employers, according to an analysis by the Boyd Co.
That firm said the annual operating expense for a data center in Omaha is about $13 million, less than half the cost of operating a similar facility in New York. Among the advantages for cities such as Omaha are lower electricity costs and fiber-optic connections.
The person close to Heineman said he was not sure how many jobs the Yahoo project had the potential to create. He said the negotiations involved building a facility in Douglas County or Sarpy County.
Yahoo's most recent company-built data center, in Quincy, Wash., is 140,000 square feet.
At a Microsoft project in San Antonio, about 75 jobs will be created, paying up to an average of $70,000 annually. The company is investing $550 million in a 400,000-square-foot building.
Heineman met with Yahoo officials in the spring and has had discussions with them since.
The person close to the governor said state and local administrators were working with Yahoo to find a location for the data center.
