The new Apple data center in Maiden, North Carolina is expected to begin operations “any day now,” according to local officials, reports “Data Center Knowledge” (http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2010/10/24/video-the-fully-operational-idatacenter/).
Even as Apple begins to ramp up production at the 500,000 square foot iDataCenter, there are rumors circulating that Apple may be planning to build a second 500,000 square foot facility on the site, the article adds. The facility — not counting the rumored expansions — is expected to employ at least 50 full-time employees.
The North Carolina state legislation requires that the average wage exceed the wage standard of the county in which it’s located. A data center will typically contract locally for services such as server maintenance and repair, building and HVAC maintenance, landscaping and security — expenditures that could range from $5 million to $6 million annually in the region and create up to 250 jobs.
The North Carolina Department of Commerce originally projected that a data center investment of $1 billion would create more than 3,000 jobs in the regional economy, including hundreds of jobs related to construction and others created as a result of economic growth. However, Scott Millar, president of the Catawba County Economic Development Corp. told the “Charlotte Business Journal” last year that “there’s a chance the Apple facility will double to $2 billion in investment.”