Microsoft Addresses Grant County EDC Luncheon
July 2006
Moses Lake
Over 150 people attended the Grant County EDC's luncheon last week to learn why Quincy was chosen as the home for what will soon be Microsoft's largest data center. Michael Manos, Senior Director of Microsoft Data Center Operations, said that they looked at sites across the globe and ranked each one according to 3I different criteria. The end result of this search? Grant County was their number one location in the world.
The county’s investment in dams, infrastructure, and the fiber optics network all played an important role in seeing the project land within the county. Construction on the site is moving extremely fast and is on track for the first of three buildings to be up and running by February of 2007.
Upon completion, each building will require from 50-100 employees, mostly computer and server engineers and computer technicians. Manos emphasized that the positions will be hired locally first and will pay the same as similar positions at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond.
Manos explained that the data center represents a big step in moving Microsoft from a software company to an online company. When the first building is completed it will house thousands of computers that will store information for hundreds of millions of Microsoft’s online customers.
Manos also predicted that the data center would attract other technology companies to the area. Terry Brewer, executive director for the Grant County EDC, agreed saying that the EDC continues to receive calls about other data center and technology related projects. "This is just the beginning of technology companies coming to Grant County," said Brewer. "Microsoft is under construction, Yahoo! Is set to break ground at the beginning of August, and we are working with several other companies that would like to locate in the county."
