COLUMNS

Google will spend another $600 million on Oklahoma data center

Dale Denwalt
Gov. Kevin Stitt and Google CEO Sundar Pichai shake hands Thursday morning before Pichai announced a $600 million investment at Google's data center in Pryor. [PROVIDED]

PRYOR — Google announced plans Thursday to expand its data center near Pryor for the fourth time since opening nearly a decade ago.

CEO Sundar Pichai said the company will spend $600 million to expand the data center in a move he said will create another 100 jobs in the community.

“This brings our total investment in Oklahoma to over $3 billion and total jobs created to over 500,” Pichai said.

He praised both Pryor and the state for working with Google’s “technology optimists.”

“The people of Mayes County shared our sense of optimism from the very start. That optimism is why Google proposed building a data center here in 2007. You welcomed us with open arms,” Pinchai said. “That optimism is what's made it possible for Google to continue our expansion in Pryor in the years since.”

During the event, Pichai also announced a $6 million technology grant to 4-H programs in Oklahoma and 25 other states.

The expansion was first discussed publicly more than a year ago, when Pichai wrote about the plan in a blog post.

Google's data center in Pryor is one of the largest of the company's 16 data centers worldwide. It's also the first of Google's data centers to reach the company's goal of producing zero landfill waste.

In 2013, Google paid PepsiCo Inc. $24.5 million for an idled Gatorade plant in the Mid-America Industrial Park. The 1.4 million-square-foot former Gatorade plant is one of the largest industrial buildings in the state.

Google has since expanded its Oklahoma data center to include a complex of four buildings, including a four-story data center the company opened in September 2016.

The latest expansion in Pryor is part of a $13 billion investment in the tech giant’s data centers. Recently, Google announced new investments in Michigan and broke ground on a new data center in Texas.

In Oklahoma, the expansion will include construction of new facilities and an increase in computing capacity.

“This national expansion comes at a significant moment for Google. For 21 years, we've pursued a timeless mission, to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful,” Pichai said.

Gov. Kevin Stitt thanked Google for being an early adopter of Oklahoma’s tech future.

"I can't underscore enough the importance that we continue to be a business-friendly state. That's the reason these companies continue to invest and grow in our great state," Stitt said. "I believe when we get these technology clusters in our state, they're going to continue to grow, and there will be more investments and opportunity for all of our citizens."