KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. — AT&T (NYSE: T) is the latest big business to build a data center in western North Carolina.
Gov. Beverly Perdue’s office said Wednesday the company plans to hire more than 100 workers and invest more than $200 million in the facility in Kings Mountain scheduled to open in 2014.
“AT&T is committed to investing in America in ways that help create jobs and get the economy moving, while also delivering the products and services that connect people with their world, everywhere they live and work,” said Cynthia Marshall, president of AT&T in North Carolina.
“We appreciate the years of hard work by North Carolina’s visionary leaders, at both the state and local levels, who have made this state attractive for companies looking to invest and a good place to do business,” she added. “Four years after opening a broadband technical support call center down east, in Goldsboro, we are thrilled to announce today that AT&T’s newest data center will be located in western North Carolina.”
No direct state tax or grant incentives were part of the deal, according to The Charlotte Observer.
However, the company will receive “local financial support,” the paper said.
The centers are big collections of Internet servers able to process tremendous amounts of data. They are expensive to build, but employ relatively few people.
The company joins a growing list of companies bringing data centers to North Carolina, following similar decisions by Facebook, Apple, Google, IBM, Time Warner Cable and American Express.
North Carolina has a combination of natural and man-made advantages that draw data centers, including relatively cheap electricity and generous state tax incentives.
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