(Photo above: Facebook Prineville Data Center Building 2 | photo by Alan Brandt)
On Wednesday, August 26 the Crook County Court unanimously passed a 15 year Long Term Rural Oregon Enterprise Zone Exemption (LTEZ) as an incentive for Facebook to choose Crook County for a new data center. The Prineville Facebook campus currently includes two 334,000 square foot data centers and a 64,000 square foot cold-storage facility. According Ken Patchett, Facebook director of data center operations, west region Facebook will be constructing their third data center building in Prineville, which will represent an additional capital investment in excess of $200 million.
Terms of the tax exemption proposal include a requirement for Facebook to spend a minimum of $200 million on the project and create at least 10 new, full time jobs that pay at least1 ½ times the annual average wage in Crook County. They would also pay an annual project fee of $190,000. In exchange, Facebookwill receive property tax exemptions on its facilities and servers saving them millions of dollars.
According to Crook County Commissioner Seth Crawford this tax break approval “does not actually mean they are building a new data center but it’s the next step.” He added that Facebook would likely hire more than 10 people. The original LTEZ required the hiring of 35 employees in the local community and 150 have been hired so far.
A new data center would not only impact the jobs created directly at the facility but throughout Crook County. “Data centers have the added bonus of creating jobs elsewhere in the economy, because existing businesses are needed to service the ongoing operations of the facility. Companies like Fab-Tech and Proline Fabrication have benefited enormously; and there’s the obvious impact to our local gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants,” said Prineville City Councilor, Jason Carr.
The data center industry continues to help Crook County repair its economic foundation “which has been cracking due to the loss of timber jobs and the Les Schwab headquarters moving to Bend. Data centers play an important role in rebuilding that foundation and contributing to economic diversification,” Carr said.
Facebook’s positive impact on Crook County has been tremendous in many capacities. The company contributes to local schools, provides internships for high school students, has created jobs on the campus and hires local contractors for their work. Many of their contributions go mostly unnoticed without publicity including financial contributions to light the flag at the top of the hill and helping build a bike park in Prineville.
Facebook’s presence in Prineville hascreated an “infrastructure that has allowed Crook County to recruit other data centers for the area,” Crawford said. Most notably, Apple continues to expand on their original data center from 2012.
A third Facebook data center would be a welcome boost for the Crook County economy and job creation. “Crook County would see another shot in the arm from construction activity and we’d be looking at more employment and an increase in power franchise fees. There’s a perception out there that data centers don’t hire many employees. On the contrary, Facebook has 150 full-time employees and Apple about 70. Average wages are $55,000 per year with benefits and about 70 percent of Facebook’s workforce is local to Crook County,” Carr said. The result would bea welcomed economic boom to the community particularly after the Woodgrain Millwork roof collapsed last year which cut over 150 jobs.
Crook County Judge Mike McCabe explained that Crook County has “thrived since Facebook came into town. They have helped in many ways and businesses have taken off since then. Facebook has breathed some life back into Prineville and Crook County.” Plumbing and electrical shops have popped up as a result and Facebook has made every effort to hire local contractors and many long-term employees from the community.
Prineville has competed against many other cities to earn Facebook’s development. “Facebook can go anywhere they want and be welcomed by cities all over the state and country,” McCabe said. He added that “everyone envies Crook County for our partnership with Facebook because they can go anywhere and get tax exemption help but they chose us.”
For example, other states can offer a 30 year tax exemption whereas Oregon law only allows a 15 year tax exemption.
One appeal to Prineville and a reason why they have developed a nice partnership with Facebook is because Crook County “only has one incorporated city so we are nimble when it comes to land use issues. We can get things done overnight for them,” McCabe said.
Facebook’s PR representative Lee Weinstein said, “Facebook very much appreciated this week’s decisions by the Prineville City Council and Crook County Commission. They expect to make a final decision about a third building in Prineville early next week.”
Ken Patchett, Facebook director of data center operations, west region wrote the following:
Five years ago, Facebook broke ground on its first wholly owned data center in Prineville. We’re proud to be a part of this wonderful Crook County community, and to have built one of the most energy efficient and sustainable data centers in the world here. It has served as a prototype for our four subsequent data centers in Forest City, Lulea, Altoona and, soon, Fort Worth.
Now, we’re happy to announce that we’ll be constructing our third data center building in Prineville, which will represent an additional capital investment in excess of $200 million.
We expect that data center construction will continue to support thousands of jobs in the regional economy and generate millions of dollars in economic impact as an ECONorthwest study we commissioned last year showed: https://www.facebook.com/notes/prineville-data-center/connecting-the-world-and-making-an-impact/10152103502378133.
Today, there are 147 people working here – with 85 percent living in Crook County. Our goals in both construction and the operation of Facebook’s data center in Prineville have always been to make Prineville a priority, be a great neighbor, and assist with the area’s economic development.
Building 3 will feature the latest Open Compute Project hardware designs — including Yosemite, Wedge, and 6-pack — and, like our other buildings, will be cooled using our cool Central Oregon high desert air instead of energy-intensive air conditioners.
Our appreciation goes to the City of Prineville, Crook County and the State of Oregon for their support, with deep thanks to the City Council and County Commission, and Mayor Betty Roppe and Judge Mike McCabe; Senators Wyden and Merkley and Congressman Walden; and Representative Mike McLane, Senator Mark Hass and Governor Kate Brown.
We’re also investing in Crook County and the community where we work: Since 2011, Facebook has donated $1,065,000 to Crook County schools and qualified nonprofits through its Community Action Grants program and local donations, including the support of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. We’re also enjoying volunteering in our schools and more.
Again, thank you to Prineville and Crook County, for all your support.
Ken
P.S. We have jobs open. Check out https://www.facebook.com/careers/locations/prineville.
