Google breaks ground for Clarksville Data Center

$600 million project is part of 14-state expansion

Clarksville, TN – Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan offered a heartfelt “Welcome to Clarksville” to Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai as the company broke ground on a new $600 million data center Friday, February 16th, 2018.

“On this great day, we say ‘Thank You for choosing Clarksville,’ and we look forward to a bright future together,” McMillan said.

Pichai said Google was proud to be able to “call Tennessee home,” and added the local project was part of a growth spurt that would bring offices and data centers to 14 more states across the country, expanding its domestic footprint to 21 states.

Google said it will invest $2.5 billion over the next few years to open or expand data centers in Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia and Oklahoma, and is constructing new offices or expanding existing ones in nine states: California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington.

The Clarksville data center will be one of eight in the U.S. and 15 worldwide. It will hold a vast array of computers on which Google services run. In Tennessee alone, Pichai said, Google answers millions of searches a day, and about 18,000 businesses and nonprofits use Google’s search and advertising tools.

Construction of the Clarksville center will involve at least 1,000 construction workers, Pichai said, and when it is completed, it will employ at least 70 workers.

The Google CEO also announced that the company would donate $300,000 to Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, and fund 100 scholarships for technology education for Middle Tennessee students.

Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., joined Bob Rolfe, state economic development commissioner, Clarksville City Council members and other state and local leaders for the ceremony.

“The launch of Google’s data center in Clarksville is great news,” Corker said. “These high-quality jobs will benefit families in a real way, and I applaud Google’s mission to improve education and advance workforce development for Americans.”

Here are Mayor McMillan’s full welcoming remarks delivered at Friday’s ceremony:

Hello, everyone. I’m glad you’re here in Tennessee’s fifth largest city to help us welcome Google to our community. It might seem a little gloomy weather-wise, and of course our hearts are heavy because of the tragedy in Florida, but still this is really a bright, shining day for Clarksville.

To Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai and local manager Enoch Mueller, on behalf of the City of Clarksville, our employees and all our residents, I offer you a heartfelt “Welcome to Clarksville.”

We all understand from a business perspective what it means for Google to locate this Data Center our community. Your investment, your trust, your faith in us, is much appreciated. You can be sure that we will be great partners as we move forward. Google’s $600 million investment and initial addition of 70 high-quality jobs is a huge vote of confidence in the future of our community.

I understand the dollar-signs, but when I look at this vast array of buildings and technology, I still see people. I see the individual workers who will be proud to have a good job at Google. I see their families and their children, growing strong and proud in a community bolstered by this commitment to excellence by Google.

We also look forward to working with Google, which always supports the communities in which they locate, especially through green-energy initiatives and STEM educational initiatives in our local schools.

The City of Clarksville is proud to say that we are one of the many local governments across America that has chosen to “Go Google” and uses G Suite as our set of workplace productivity tools.

On this great day, we say “Thank You for choosing Clarksville,” and we look forward to a bright future together.