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Google Announces Additional Investment in Iowa

Google’s initial investment in Iowa was 600 million for a data center in Council Bluffs.

Chris Russell, Google Data Center Operations Manager, says that facility has been open for several years now and is doing well. 

He says that’s why Google decided to build another new data center.

The tech giant’s initial investment was 300 million dollars.

It was expanded by 200 million and recently grew by another 400 million---meaning to date, Google has invested 1.5 billion dollars in Iowa.  Russell says Iowa is a good fit for Google.

"The availability of land, the business climate and how welcoming they are to companies like Google.  It’s also a great place to find employees.  The cost of living here is fairly reasonable.  It’s also situated in the center of the country which allows you to provide services to customers all over the country.”

Russell says Google is committed to building and using energy in a sustainable way. 

He says the energy that is used to run the data center is as important as where it is sourced from. 

In 2010 and 2012, Google entered into agreements to purchase wind energy produced by local wind farms in Iowa.