Facebook’s Huntsville Data Center is set to open in the coming months, but the center has already been contributing to the economic growth of the area, according to a report released on Thursday.
Construction on the data center broke ground in 2018. Currently, Facebook has 8 operating data center locations across the United States with five additional ones under construction.
The newly released study, conducted for Facebook by RTI International and covering 2017-2019, found that Facebook’s investments through capital expenditures, operating expenses and direct wages in data centers totaled $11.5 billion, contributed a cumulative $18.6 billion to the U.S. GDP and supported over 178,000 jobs nationwide.
The report outlined that the Huntsville Data Center, which began serving traffic this year, represents more than a $750 million investment in Alabama, employed hundreds of construction jobs and currently supports more than 200 jobs for its 970,000 square feet of property.
“We are proud to invest $750 million into Huntsville, but even prouder to see how our investments spur further economic benefits for the area especially during this tough economic climate. Our data center investments go beyond economic growth to benefit the local environment and community,” stated Katie Comer, Facebook community development manager.
Results of the study showed that for every $1 million in data center capital expenditures, there were 14 jobs supported in the area, and for every $1 million in data center operating expenditures, 18 jobs were supported.
Read more on the Huntsville Data Center here.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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