Jeff Gamet
Apple is planning to start building its new data center in Maiden, North Carolina, in August with hopes of bringing the facility online in late 2010. Apple chose the rural location for the data center after the state offered the company tax incentives to move into the area.
According to the Charlotte Observer, Apple intends to buy building supplies and materials locally when possible, and is also ready to talk with local companies interested in working as a vendor, service provider or independent contractor.
North Carolina law makers passed legislation that gave Apple special tax incentives to build the new data center in the state. In return, Apple agreed to invest $1 billion in the facility over the next nine years, and to build in an area that needs more jobs.
The data center is expected to employ at least 50 full-time employees, and to create about 250 additional contract jobs in an area that is suffering from high unemployment rates. The state's Department of Commerce is projecting that the server farm could help create as many as 3,000 jobs for the region, some of which will be involved in the center's construction.
The tax incentives could save Apple about $46 million over the next ten years, and up to $300 million over the next thirty years. Apple hasn't said how it plans to use the server farm, although some are speculating it will support the iTunes Store and App Store.
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