Company Named That Plans to Build $700 Million Data Center in WDM

Gov. Terry Branstad joined West Des Moines Mayor Steve Gaer Friday to announce a third expansion of Microsoft’s existing state-of-the-art data center in Iowa.

The West Des Moines project will have a minimum capital investment of $677.6 million and is expected to create 29 new jobs. The project represents the culmination of a year’s collaborative effort by Microsoft, the Greater Des Moines Partnership, City of West Des Moines and the State of Iowa, according to a news release.

“We are proud to watch tech leaders like Microsoft choose to make significant investments in Iowa,” said Branstad. “Microsoft’s continued expansion at its West Des Moines location is a vote of confidence that our state is providing the kind of business-friendly environment that can help global companies succeed.”

Microsoft’s project, dubbed “Project Mountain” throughout the application process, was awarded state incentives Friday by the Iowa Economic Development Authority Board. The company will be eligible to receive up to $20 million in tax credits, including $15 in a sales and use tax refund paid during construction and a $5 million investment tax credit, for completing the $677.6 million capital investment project in West Des Moines.

The release said the project will create 29 new jobs, 24 of which are incented a qualifying hourly wage of $23.12, and more than 200 jobs during construction.

Microsoft has over 200 of online and cloud computing services supporting one billion customers around the world, including MSN, Office 365, Xbox Live, Bing, Outlook.com, and Windows Azure. The first major technology company to build a data center in Central Iowa, Microsoft has operated its West Des Moines facility since 2009.

“Microsoft has enjoyed a strong working relationship with the state of Iowa and West Des Moines and we are excited about our latest expansion project,” said Christian Belady, General Manager of Data Center Services at Microsoft. “The expansion of the West Des Moines data center is a win-win, bringing both new jobs to Iowa while supporting the growing demand for Microsoft’s cloud services. The new facility is designed to provide fast and reliable services to customers in the region and features our latest efficient data center thinking,”

The project expansion will house servers, networking equipment and office space needed to operate Microsoft’s cloud services. Necessary infrastructure improvements to the West Des Moines location requiring additional capital investment will support the expansion, such as fiber and roads. As part of the company’s commitment to carbon neutrality, Microsoft is offsetting the gross carbon emissions from this data center by purchasing an equivalent amount of renewable energy credits.

“The City of West Des Moines appreciates the confidence Microsoft has in our City as evidenced by Microsoft’s decision to expand their operations here,” said West Des Moines Mayor Steven Gaer. “Creating a business friendly City and corresponding economic development has been an area of emphasis for the City of West Des Moines for several years.  Microsoft’s selection of West Des Moines for expansion is proof that our efforts continue to pay dividends.”

Local incentives from the City of West Des Moines were approved during last week’s West Des Moines City Council meeting. Site work for the expansion project is expected to begin later this summer with construction anticipated late 2013 and a scheduled completion by the end of 2015.