Catawba County Paves the Way for Data Companies
Published Jul 03, 2008
CommScope is the world’s largest manufacturer of coaxial cable
Catawba County is aggressively working to make a name for itself as a large data center site. With abundant, low-cost electricity, water and fiber, the location is a perfect fit for a company looking to relocate a data center or server farm.
“That’s our biggest target for recruitment,” Scott Millar, president of the Catawba County Economic Development Corp., says of the data centers.
Data centers are warehouses that store computers and require an enormous amount of electricity.
The county is so committed to attracting data centers that it has optioned 165 acres for a campus-style business park in Hickory.
The area is already considered an attractive site for data centers. The Boyd Co., a leading corporate site selection firm headquartered in New Jersey, published a study that said Catawba County is within an hour of two of the top 10 least expensive cities to operate a data center – Winston-Salem and Charlotte. And in 2007, Google announced that it would build a $600 million data center in Lenoir, less than 20 miles north of Hickory. Since that time, the giant media corporation has said it will invest more money in the area.
The county has three leading cable manufacturing companies that are potential partners. Another important selling point is that the area is insulated from natural disasters. Because it’s so far away from the coast, hurricanes have little effect in Catawba County. And the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains provide a shield from tornadoes.
The cost of the park is estimated to run between $2.5 million and $3 million. “That’s how solid our leadership is on aggressively pursuing this industry,” Millar says.
Story by Sheila Burke
Photo by Ian Curcio
Current Weather Conditions In Hickory, NC (28603)
Fog, and 46 ° F. For more details?
Click here...
