Google/Oklahoma Fast Facts

Google's Oklahoma Project Facts

• At least $600 million for a data center project, including retrofit of an existing vacant industrial building.
• Investment includes purchase of the existing building, land, site preparation and infrastructure, construction, computers, and other equipment.
• Expansions are possible, but the company has no definite plans at this time.

• Location: Approximately 800 acres of industrial land at MidAmerica Industrial Park in Mayes County, Oklahoma.

• Once fully operational, Google expects the data center complex to be staffed by up to 200 workers.
• Full-time Google employees will earn an average salary of about $48,000.  These positions include Facilities Support (HVAC, maintenance), Systems Administration (software technicians) and Data Center Technicians. 
• Some additional support services will be retained via contract (security, catering, grounds keeping, etc.).

• A data center, in very simple terms, is a specialized building that contains a lot of computers - the machines that run Google's services. 
• Google is building new data centers to support the strong and growing demand for its online services.

• The project will bring around 200 permanent jobs (if not more from future expansions, if any), many more jobs from the construction, more demand for supplies and services from local businesses, and a substantial increase in the tax base.
• During the initial phase of construction, our contractors will likely be staffing up locally, utilizing local subcontractors and patronizing local businesses.  We believe the project will spur additional new business interest and activity in this area.

Background

Google has a strategic interest in the central region of the United States.  The region is a busy crossroads of Internet activity, and Google has had to make sure it can process requests from customers and prospective customers living in or traveling through this broad and diverse region.  The company looked at states from the Appalachians to the Rocky Mountains as possible hosts for data center facilities.

In early 2006, Google representatives began travels to multiple central US states, including Oklahoma, to determine which would provide the best operating environments for Google facilities.  They looked, for example, at each state's tax, regulatory and operating environment, statutes, and infrastructure.  After those trips, Google further narrowed its search.  During the Summer and Fall of 2006, Google representatives continued discussing specific project possibilities with officials at MidAmerica Industrial Park and the State of Oklahoma.  In the Fall of 2006, Google performed more detailed due diligence on a site at MidAmerica Industrial Park.  By the end of 2006, Google representatives and officials were concluding discussions and entering into contracts to purchase the property.

• State statutory sales tax exemptions and ad valorem property tax exemptions
• Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program has been offered by the State and may be pursued

Taxes Google will pay (after all economic development incentives)

• Real and personal property: Tax exemptions expire after 5 years. 
• Sales tax: Estimated $6 million in just the next 2 years from the purchase of building materials.
• Other: Payroll taxes (with the exception of any rebates obtained through the Quality Jobs Program, if any), sales tax from non-exempted purchases, corporate income taxes

Google Facts

• Google was founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin in a garage in Menlo Park, CA.  Now a top web property in all major global markets, Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day.
• Google's breakthrough technology and continued innovation serve the company's mission of "organizing the world's information and making it universally accessible and useful." 
• Google is a play on the word googol, which refers to the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. Google's use of the term reflects the company's mission to organize the immense, seemingly infinite amount of information available on the web.

• Google has seen tremendous growth in recent years.  Today, Google employs roughly 12,000 people worldwide. 
• Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley and maintains 40 sales, operations, and engineering offices worldwide, including New York, Ann Arbor, Atlanta, Chicago, London, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, and Sydney.
• In December 2006, Google's unique corporate culture earned it the title of Fortune Magazine's #1 Place to Work.

• Google's earns most of its revenue from its targeted advertising program, AdWords, which is the largest and fastest growing in the industry.
• Google also brings our best-of-breed consumer technologies to businesses with our simple, powerful communication and collaboration tools for business, Google Apps Premium Edition.

• In addition to the Google Search Engine, Google also offers a suite of online consumer products, such as our free web-based word processing and spreadsheet program, Docs&Spreadsheets, and our free webmail service, Gmail.
• Fast, innovative products are crucial for our users and require significant computing power.  Google invests heavily in technical facilities and has dozens of facilities around the world with many computers.

About the Founders

Sergey Brin
Co-Founder & President, Technology

Sergey Brin, a native of Moscow, received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in mathematics and computer science from the University of Maryland at College Park. He is currently on leave from the Ph.D. program in computer science at Stanford University, where he received his master's degree.  It was at Stanford where he met Larry Page and worked on the project that became Google.  Sergey continues to share responsibility for day-to-day operations with Larry Page and C.E.O. Eric Schmidt.

Larry Page
Co-Founder & President, Products

Larry Page was Google's founding CEO and grew the company to more than 200 employees and profitability before moving into his role as President, Products in April 2001. He continues to share responsibility for Google's day-to-day operations with Eric Schmidt and Sergey Brin.  Larry earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from University of Michigan, with a concentration on computer engineering.  Larry went on leave from Stanford after earning his master's degree.

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