Goodbuyguys.com is located in North Carolina. Its my home and a great place to live and work. It looks like we are going to be getting a new neighbor.
Google has announce their intention to build a server farm in Lenoir, NC, a town in the NC foothills, about 150 miles from here. There was a lot of excitement at first, with stories in all the local papers and coverage on newscasts. Google was promising an investment of as much as $600 million and at least a couple hundred jobs. This in an area of the state that has been really hard hit by job losses in the furniture and textile industries.
It wasn’t until the Governor’s office was ready to make the official announcement that the whole truth about the negotiations were made public. Google may pledge to “do no evil” but the taxpayers of North Carolina might not buy into their philosophy.
It appears that the game was “hardball” when Google executives came to the negotiating table. By the time the deal was sealed to build the server farm, the good people of NC had given up tax breaks and incentives to Google that could be worth $100 million over the next 30 years. This for 200 jobs.
Google will get abatements in propertya taxes, sales taxes, and infrastructure costs.
Most interesting is the level of secrecy this global information provider demanded during the negotiations. Google demanded that NC legislators never mention their name when discussing the deal that would give Google millions in incentives. They demanded to have a hand in writing the bill that would go before the legislature and threatened to pull out a number of times during the 13 month negotiation if they did not get their way.
Lets hope that Google’s move to North Carolina will improve the business climate that they found to be so appealing in the first place.
GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords, OnStage Stand mic stands, and lots of other useful production supplies.
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