Data Centers Create Boom in Quincy

The small town of Quincy, Washington is being transformed by the arrival of a major data center from Microsoft, which just opened the 470,000 square foot first phase of a project that will eventually grow to 1.4 million square feet. Quincy is one of several central Washingon towns that have been chosen for huge data centers due to the availability of open land and cheap hydro power from dams on the Columbia River. Yahoo, Sabey Corp., Intuit and Ask.com also have construction projects in the area. But in assessing the economic impact of the data center boom, much of the attention has focused on Quincy, an agricultural town of 5,300 that is home to the largest of the new projects. A story in The Wenatchee World summarizes the recent developments:

With data center site location decisions for the largest providers being increasingly drawn to rural areas with inexpensive power, we're likely to see more small towns experience economic revivals. That's why local government in North Carolina extended generous incentive plans to gain a commitment from Google for a $600 million project in Lenoir, N.C. It will be years before it will be possible to properly evaluate that deal. But the boom times in Quincy suggest that there are changes in store for Lenoir as well.