Google Hires Former State Senator to Manage Community Relations in Lenoir, NC, protecting its $165 mil tax break for data center operation

January 30, 2008 Dave Ohara

Again thanks to the analysts at www.t1r.com for sending me the local paper article about Google's data center in Lenoir, NC. It's great the press is on top of this. My previous post on why 200 employees has had a of traffic, and this one should get your attention as well.

The globally ambitious, California-based Internet giant is working to establish itself in a close-knit world that's decidedly un-Silicon Valley, mixing with local civic groups and donating charity Christmas trees for a public display, amid strict secrecy the company says its project requires.

Lenoir native Stephen Clay, 57, is so pleased about Google's arrival that he hung a "Clay Insurance Welcomes Google" banner outside his business near downtown. He also attended a Google AdWords training seminar to learn about how its advertising works.

But he and others said they still wish they knew more about the center and how it will benefit the community. Visitors aren't allowed on the construction site, which is ringed with barbed wire.

Residents who have tried to sneak a closer peek say they've been run off by security guards. And employees are limited in what they can say about the project's specifics.

"People talk about it all the time," said Anita Watters, 40, the assistant manager of Miller Hill Grocery, just up the street from the data center. " `Area 51.' It's all this secretive stuff. They're so hush-hush about what they're doing over there ... I hear all kinds of (speculation)."

The most interesting nugget though is that Google has hired a former state senator to manage the community relations. It's a small price to hire the senator to protect google's 30 year $165 million tax break.

The Lenoir project sparked criticism after it was announced last year, in part because it received state and local incentives valued at up to $165 million over 30 years.

As a result, Google has worked to improve its outreach. In April, it hired consultant Matt Dunne, a former Vermont state senator and gubernatorial candidate whose career has focused on bringing together entrepreneurship, community service and politics, to listen to residents and inform them about the company.

Yet he must also manage expectations and explain the competitive reasons data centers are built and operated in secrecy.

In Lenoir, Dunne said, he's encountered a mix of hope and concern: Hope that Google will single-handedly transform the economy and worries that the company won't hire any local workers; excitement about a second building phase and concern that Google employees won't live in or near Lenoir.

Google is not going to be another Broyhill or Bernhardt - furniture companies that for decades were dominant and paternalistic employers in the region - nor is it moving its headquarters to town. Though large, the data center will employ about 200 people, not 8,000, Dunne said.

I wonder how much pressure Google is going to be on to prove they have 200 employees. In this article they listed 3 Google employees, 197 more to go. If the press could get access to the permits they could see the # of parking spaces applied for.

Google declined to say how large the data centers will be, but permits on file with Caldwell County call for one $15.4 million, 139,797-square-foot building and another, $24.5 million, 337,008-square-foot building.

Those permits, incidentally, are not listed under Google, but under the name Lapis LLC. Ask to make a copy, and you'll be told it needs to be cleared by a lawyer first.

"I just wanted to be a part of (Google), a part of the culture," said Jennifer Crump, 35, of Morganton, a former stay-at-home mom who earned an associate's degree in information technology and was hired earlier this month as a data center technician assistant. "It's so different from what we have around here."

Lenoir native Walter Brameld, 30, worked in an Atlanta data center but got burned out and moved home, figuring he'd have to take "a McJob." Then he found out about Google. Once the site location became public, he'd drive past it to reassure himself it was really coming. He was hired in October.

Jacobik, 42, an Air Force veteran and father of seven who previously managed a data center for Oracle in Austin, Texas, oversees Google's Lenoir operation and another planned outside of Charleston. In and around Lenoir alone, he has addressed more than a dozen civic groups, including Rotary, Kiwanis and Ruritan clubs.

Waukesha, Wisconsin City Gov't goes Green in their Data Center

January 14, 2008 Dave Ohara

In Government Technology, Solutions for State and Local Government in the Information Age, Waukesha, Government is highlighted as an early mover in the green effort, and specifically calls out their Green Data Center Efforts. This momentum resonates with conversations I've had with Microsoft's Gary Falis, Sr Director for Pubic Sector Sales who has called attention that local gov't are some of the earliest adopters of Green Technology.

A domino effect of local government green initiatives is sweeping the nation. The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) recently announced that more than 700 mayors have signed the USCM's Climate Protection Agreement, committing to pursue numerous green measures.

In Waukesha, Wis., however, a major green rollout was implemented before the pressure to conform started, and many local governments soon plan to do many of the things Waukesha has already completed.

Data centers are typically a massive power drain for governments, making green data centers critical power savers. Waukesha deployed a more energy-efficient cooling system in its data center, which at roughly 680 square feet, is larger than the facilities in most nearby cities, said Bret Mantey, IT director of Waukesha.

"It compares to the county data center closely, but not as large as, say, Milwaukee. All other cities in the county are a broom closet in comparison," Mantey said.

The city uses blade servers and server virtualization to reduce the number of servers it powers in the data center.

Synovus Financial Joins Columbia Data Center Neighbors with fewer than 25 employees. Why does Google's data center need 200 employees?

January 12, 2008 Dave Ohara

I've received quite a bit of traffic on my post on # of data center employees, and Synovus just announced their data center with fewer than 25 employees.

The new facility won't mean any more employees in Columbus, however. Synovus has about 200 people in its information technology division. Fewer than 25 will work at the new data center, and they will transfer from within the division.

The analysts an Tier1Research were nice enough to respond to my email address and discuss this subject.

I fully believe you can run a near-zero person datacenter – outside of constant care and maintenance of mechanical systems like cooling and generators. Security is important; however do you staff for sparse perimeter review or potential assault? Both have very low multipliers from size of datacenter to people. Servers and storage doubly so! As you know; any good rack of hardware (including load balancing and monitoring hardware) can be managed from five feet or five time zones away.

Tier1Research and I both think that Google is inflating their employment #'s in data centers in a style of the New Deal and Works Program Administration. Google coming to town has a high expectation of what it will do to the local economy, but I doubt any area Google builds in will be as significant economically as Microsoft's move to Quincy, and the following of firms to the Columbia Basin.

EBay Data Center pays $79,200 penalties for operating Diesel Generators when not permitted

January 9, 2008 Dave Ohara

Ebay picked a bad area, Sacramento, state capitol of California, and the backyard of Arnold Schwarzenegger the environmentalist governor to pollute the air. The Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District collected $79,200 from Ebay for an air quality permit violation.

“Our agency is deemed with the task of enforcing air quality laws to protect public health and the environment”, said AQMD’s Executive Officer Larry Greene.
“Bad air is bad for business and discharging harmful pollutants over several days carries a big fine when compromising the air quality and the health of our residents”.

The penalty is part of a settlement between AQMD and eBay to resolve a Notice of Violation (NOV) issued by the District on August 21, 2007 for Rule 201, General Permit Requirements.

Ebay’s data center facility in Rancho Cordova operated three standby generators for several days for purposes other than maintenance or emergency use, resulting in a discharge of emissions such as NOx and Diesel PM in excess of the limits allowed by their permits to operate.

Trouble for Greenwashers

January 8, 2008 Dave Ohara

FTC is starting hearings on Jan 8 for Environmental Marketing claims.

The Federal Trade Commission is beginning a regulatory review of its environmental marketing guidelines, also known as the Green Guides. The guides outline general principles for all environmental marketing claims and provide specifics about certain green claims, such as degradabilty, compostability, recyclability, recycled content, and ozone safety. In a Federal Register Notice, the Commission is requesting comments on the guides, including standard questions about costs, benefits, and effectiveness of the guides, and questions on specific topics, including “sustainable” and “renewable” claims. While the review was scheduled to begin in 2009, because of the current increase in green advertising claims, the Commission is reviewing the guides at this time to ensure they reflect today’s marketplace. The guides were last updated in 1998.