Google announces new plans

Reba

Reba

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Google announced plans to build a new center in my area.

Lowcountry greets Google
Internet search engine giant makes presentation on data center plans

BY ANDY PARAS
The Post and Courier

GOOSE CREEK - After 16 months of silence, state and local leaders were downright giddy - "Googly" even - when finally given the chance Thursday to discuss Google's new $600 million data center in Berkeley County.

The crowd of about 300 dignitaries snatched up free flying discs and water bottles emblazoned with the multi-colored "Google" logo and talked over pork barbecue after company officials gave a short presentation about their new project, announced a joint, $407,000 donation to the community and opened the floor to questions.

"For Berkeley County, this is a tremendous event," said Mark Dunlay, vice president and plant manager for Alcoa Mt. Holly, which joined Google in selling timber from the property to make the donation. "You can't even put this in numbers."

The event was the public's first chance to meet their newest corporate neighbor.

Questions ranged from how many of the expected 200 jobs will be given to local folks - as many as possible - to how the company uses water and electricity, which elicited a "no comment" answer similar to those the company gave before recently acknowledging the project.

"We're in a highly competitive industry and, frankly, one or two little pieces of information like that in the hands of our competitors can do us considerable damage. So we can't discuss it," said Rhett Weiss, Google's head of strategic development.

The company hopes to open its first building by December and the second building 18 months later.

It plans to begin advertising for the leadership positions on its Web site by next week at the latest.

Chris Kerrigan, president of the Trident United Way, said Google and Alcoa donated the money from the timber sale to Links to Success, a program that tries to keep children in schools in Dorchester and Berkeley counties.

Berkeley County Supervisor Dan Davis also praised the company for writing the county a check for $4.34 million for the right to tap into the water system.

Davis said the company could have spread the payment out over 30 years if it had wanted to.

John Scarborough, the county's director of economic development, said the company's annual payroll in Berkeley County will be about $12 million to $15 million, much of which will be spent in the area. ...
The Post and Courier, Charleston SC | Charleston.net | Stories
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This has become one of best news in the greater Charleston/North Charleston area in a while. North Carolina (somewhere near Charlotte-Mecklenburg County) was believed to be the company's favored site. Expect to hear about more (likely high-tech related) companies following Google to the Charleston/North Charleston area. :)
 
that is great reba

my city, Ann Arbor Michigan also had already welcome google to the city
 
FYI Google is rated number one best employer to work for! They require you to spend 20-30% of your working hours "FOOLING AROUND!". They have researched and found out that this requirement ends up more productivity than using whipping.
 
Where's Google Center in Chicago? :deal:
 
They have a center not far from my office too. Looks like a big playground.

Richard
 
Wow that sounds interesting. It is more likely that your town will have to install several light stop signs, more new roads, more new companies developments, and condos/appartments. It is good for people to get a job there, but the cars make more air/visual pollution in your area (or your street) which is not a good sign.

My town has developed about 40 outdoor shops, and they will build a big hotel. The shops are beautiful and nice design of roads. They are paving new roads now. Now, I am stuck that there is a large property for sale that might be many condos, and it is two blocks away from my house. Darn it. There are a lot of woods for deers and wild turkey live that area. Darn it. I probably will never see them again.

I like Google Company, but nothing that we can do about it.
 
Google brings free Charleston Wi-Fi to Waterfront Park, adds park to Street View program
Natalie Caula
Twitter
Posted: Saturday, May 11, 2013 12:01 a.m.

On a 73-degree day, a steady stream of people walked around Waterfront Park in downtown Charleston where, at the brink of summer, children began wetting their feet in the fountain.

Others sat scanning their smartphones while sitting on some of the benches lining the park's best view of the harbor. In a few hours' time, a few others logged on to their laptops in the park to enjoy its newest feature — free wireless Internet access. The Wi-Fi feature is a city of Charleston venture in partnership with Google and Charleston Digital Corridor.

The free Wi-Fi was previously only available at Marion Square. The free access was turned on in Waterfront Park three days ago and already 150 people have used it, according to Ernest Andrade, CEO of the Charleston Digital Corridor.

When asked what other gathering place he'd like to see get Wi-Fi, Mayor Joe Riley said perhaps King Street, where locals and tourists roam the sidewalks daily. Andrade said the next natural move could be The Battery with the amount of foot traffic it has.

Five small black boxes, wireless access points, now adorn the iconic light posts at Waterfront Park.

“Having this Wi-Fi network makes life easier for people doing business here,” Riley said. “It's all done at no cost to the taxpayer.”

Riley was joined Friday morning at the park by Andrade and Google's data center operations manager, Eric Wages, to announce the Wi-Fi expansion.

Also, Wages announced Google's expansion of its Street View trekker program, which allows Google Maps users to view places around the world online through 360-degree street-level images. In Charleston, Street View will include off-road areas that include landmarks. “The world is not just about roads,” Wages said.

Street View uses a backpack with 15 different cameras that take photos every two to five seconds. Google recently tested the system in the Grand Canyon.

“It was a successful effort,” Wages said.

As part of the expansion, the Street Trekker will map Waterfront Park next. Wages said it might take a few months before the images are placed on Google Maps.

About 20 students from the Charleston Charter School for Math and Science demonstrated Google's latest features under the park's pavilion. Their engineering teacher, Meredith Temples, said they were approached by the tech giant to check out the latest expansions in Charleston.

“As engineers I wanted them to see how new technology is introduced to a community,” she said.
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Google brings free Charleston Wi-Fi to Waterfront Park, adds park to Street View program – The Post and Courier
 
Don't expect much ... only reason Google will move into an area is the tax breaks the county gives them and power company discounts ... both are for a certain number of years as per agreement between the county and Google ... they built a $600 million site here a few years ago (5 minutes from my house) and it didn't change much ... as far as employment they brought most of the people in from elsewhere that were already employed by Google ... they built it on the side of a hill on Harrisburg drive and has a tall fence with lights on all the time and steam clouds rolling out constantly ... it looks like a prison and locked up tighter than fort knox ...

Brian said:
This has become one of best news in the greater Charleston/North Charleston area in a while. North Carolina (somewhere near Charlotte-Mecklenburg County) was believed to be the company's favored site. Expect to hear about more (likely high-tech related) companies following Google to the Charleston/North Charleston area. :)
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its Lenoir, NC in Caldwell County ... Charlotte/Mecklenburg County is about an hour and a half south east of me ... as far as I know thats the only one in NC

EDIT: forgot the link to this locations website

http://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/lenoir/
 
Lukin said:
Reba, you wouldn't happen to know a lady by the name of Vickie, do you?

My memory in Charleston is rather blurred one but I went to a preschool back in 80s.
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Not now but I have in the past. Why?
 
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