NetApp Confirms Research Triangle Site

Network Appliance (NTAP) has accepted a $16.3 million incentive package from the state of North Carolina, and has agreed to build a 130,000 square foot data center in Research Triangle Park rather than Washington state or Pennsylvania.

The company will hire 646 workers over the next four years,, with the jobs paying average annual salaries of $94,000. "This is the way we want to grow in North Carolina," Gov. Mike Easley told the News & Observer. "We want high-paying, high-skilled jobs that we won't lose to foreign companies."

The data center will be built on NetApp's existing office complex in Research Triangle Park, where the company has three buildings totaling 530,000 square feet. NetApp executives said the incentive package from the state helped North Carolina win out over Washington State, where power costs for the planned facility would have saved the company in the neighborhood of $1 million.

The Wake County Board of Commissioners agreed Monday to offer NetApp a $933,750, incentives package based on the company's investment in new construction.