Site Selection - Oklahoma Department of Commerce

Q:Why did Google choose MidAmerica Industrial Park?

A:Many factors contributed to the decision, including the strong infrastructure and the excellent team from MidAmerica and the Oklahoma Dept. of Commerce who worked with us to make this possible. Also, we believe Mayes County is a location where our operations, capital expenditures, and jobs will be a great fit and have a positive impact on both the community and State of Oklahoma.

Q:What kind of facility will Google build?

A:A data center, which is basically a specialized building that contains lots of computers - all helping to run Google's services. We are building these new data centers to support the growing demand for Google's online services and expect to make more announcements like this in other places in the future.

Q:What will be Google's impact on the location?

Physically:

Very environmentally friendly - just steam from the cooling
Very quiet except for some generators running every once-in-a-while, when necessary
Little traffic - few shipments in or out - and little additional car traffic
Sensitive to appearance - good landscaping and trees wherever possible

Community:

Google encourages employees to be active in the community
Once we're on the ground, we'll be looking for ways to become part of the community
We're very interested in ideas from the community as to how we can participate
You can find more information on some of our community efforts on our website.

Q:What kind of jobs will this facility create?

A:Our contractors and sub-contractors will be bringing on new workers soon for the construction of the project. There will be as many as 500 workers on the site at any one time and construction will continue for months.

In addition, Google is now looking for local managers for the complex and on-site operations. Complete job descriptions for these positions and all future openings will soon be posted at www.google.com/jobs. These positions will include:

Facilities (HVAC, maintenance)
Systems administrators (software technicians)
Data center technicians
Support services via contract (security, catering, grounds keeping, etc.)

Q:Where will these new employees come from?

A:We cannot predict where our employees will come from and we are opening up the applications to anyone, anywhere, who would like to apply. However, we will make a strong effort to recruit from this region for that talent and we ask for your help in getting the word out. Hiring locally is not only the right thing to do, but it also makes the best business sense.

Q:When will Google start hiring?

A:Our first order of business for hiring is to find local managers for the overall facility and on-site technical operations. Job descriptions for these positions and instructions for submitting resumes will be posted on our website soon at www.google.com/jobs.

To get a better idea about what the position details, you can take a look at the positions we have posted for our previously announced projects in North Carolina and South Carolina. Personnel hired for these positions will be in charge of staffing the facility with the maintenance, facilities, hardware and software technicians, which will make up the bulk of job openings. Other interested applicants and vendors can send their information to oklahomaproject@google.com.

Q: What is the project timeline?

A:Construction on the first facility is just beginning. We will begin by retrofitting an existing 84,000 square-foot industrial facility that has been vacant for some time. We hope to be operational in that building in the next 18 months.

Google’s Oklahoma Project FAQ