Facebook reckons data centers add half-billion to U.S. regional economies

Facebook's Forest City, NC data center (Image: Datacenter Dynamics)

Nick Booth at Datacenter Dynamics has reported that, in an effort to quantify how a data center can contribute to regional economic development, social media giant Facebook recently conducted a study, charting the period from 2011 to 2013, to gauge the economic impact of its Forest City data center on the local North Carolina economy in which it resides.

"According to the 2014 Facebook Forest City Economic and Fiscal Impact Report, the presence of its data center helped to catalyze the creation of 4,700 jobs in North Carolina and US$526m in capital spending statewide, generating $680m in economic output," reports Booth. Much of that economic impact was generated by the construction of the data center, notes the report.

"In 2013, the non-construction-related activity associated with Facebook's data center operations in Forest City accounted for $17m in operational expenditures, which it claimed has generated $27m in economic output," adds Datacenter Dynamics' booth. In total, in the 2011-2013 period studied in the report, the data center generated a total gross economic impact of $707m and supported 5,000 jobs across North Carolina, found the Facebook report.

Full story:Facebook: Our data centers add US$0.5BN to economy (datacenterdynamics.com)