Facebook Datacenters Fuel Oregon’s Economy
Facebook is taking a familiar tack among technology companies: It wants to move beyond the public perception that it is only a social media company to be seen as a job creator and engine of U.S. economic growth.
In Facebook's case, the company is highlighting the fact that its datacenter construction in the state of Oregon over the last five years has generated nearly 3,600 jobs. That total includes 650 jobs in the central part of the state at its Prineville campus, inland from the Oregon's major population centers.
The head count estimates are part of an economic impact study commissioned by Facebook and conducted by the consulting firm ECONorthwest. The jobs created in central Oregon stemmed from construction of Facebook's campus in Prineville, which includes two primary data storage centers and smaller "cold storage" facility.
ECONorthwest estimated that overall construction in the state by the social media giant has generated $573 million in capital spending over the last five years.
Facebook designed and built its first datacenter on the Prineville campus, designs for which are the basis of the Open Compute Project. Previously, Facebook had leased space from commercial datacenters, facilities that it is currently winding down. Facebook currently operates its own datacenters in Forest City, North Carolina, and in Lulea, Sweden; it is building another one in Altoona, Iowa.
Facebook said it has yet to commission economic impact studies for its other datacenters.
The economic impact survey also found that Facebook's spending in the region generated "multiplier spending effects" in the form of "supply chain impacts" that resulted in increase public and private spending as well as job creation. "Suppliers to the directly involved industry will also purchase additional goods and services," the study noted. "This spending leads to additional rounds of indirect impacts."
For example, ECONorthwest found that for every 10 direct jobs at Facebook, there were 14 additional jobs created statewide. The study also claimed that every $1 million on the Facebook payroll "supports another $500,000 in income elsewhere in the state."
While Facebook's Prineville datacenter operations have contributed to Oregon's tax base, the state also has given the company generous tax breaks as an incentive to build there. Indeed, state and local governments have been competing to attract datacenter construction through tax incentives and streamlined zoning designed to speed up construction.
Facebook datacenter construction in central Oregon started in 2009 and quickly ramped up over the next three years. The Facebook-commissioned study found that the impact of datacenter construction on Oregon's economy peaked in 2012 at an estimated $217.9 million. Job creation in the state also peaked that year 1,377 jobs, the study found.
Facebook is also taking credit for charitable contributions to the state in the form of donations to a local high school to support STEM education.
Meanwhile, the Prineville area also has become something of a magnet for datacenter construction. Following Facebook's lead, Apple built a massive datacenter in the central Oregon city.
