Google held a ceremony for a brand new data center in Pryor Thursday afternoon.
The project began in 2007 to bring the Google data center to Mayes County. A year later it was decided there was enough server capacity to meet the demand. So the plan was delayed. However, with growth came the need for more space which brings us to Thursday's ceremony.
Mike Edwards said, “I’ve always been interested in working for companies that are people focused and also technology focused so for me it was a perfect match.”
Google officials along with Governor Mary Fallin and Secretary of Commerce Dave Lopez were on hand to get “plugged in” on the event.
Joe Kava, Google Senior Director, "This is a big investment for google so as you can imagine we don't take these investments lightly. We studied all of our options and Mayes County and Pryor were truly ideal options for us."
The event is not only big for Pryor and Mayes County. It's also important for the state of Oklahoma.
Governor Mary Fallin said, "Our unemployment rate is less than other places in the nation. We have double digit growth and our revenue from our economy and our housing prices are holding up well so it's a great place to be for business development."
The people in the Pryor area couldn’t be happier.
Edwards said, "I know a lot of people I know. It's kind of giving them a sense of hope that the economy is changing and turning around and things are going to start turning up for the area so this has been very positive."
Google’s search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Officials say the center will be fully operations with about 100 employees by late next year.
