Industrial park boosts region's economic base

Google's arrival at Mid-America Industrial Park in Pryor, which came months after a similar announcement by Gatorade, could usher in plenty of other development in northeast Oklahoma, area officials said Wednesday.

"Gatorade and Google are just unbelievable to think about," said Pryor Mayor Jimmy Tramel. "What's next?"

The Internet giant officially announced it would spend $600 million to construct a data center in Mid-America over the next year, and will eventually employ 200 people.

Though no official economic impact figures were released, Bob Ball, an economist at the Tulsa Metro Chamber, estimated Google could have an impact of $400 million during construction and an ongoing impact of $14 million to the entire area, with $7.3 million of that within the Tulsa metro area.

He's hopeful Google will encourage more younger workers to move to the area.

"It's a big deal that'll draw a lot of people here," he said. "They're a sought-after employer people want to work for."

Last year, Gatorade unveiled its plans for a 1.4 million-square-foot, $180 million plant that will employ 280 at Mid-America when it opens this September. The company estimated it would have a $5 billion to $7 billion impact on the state's economy over the first decade of operation.

Together, the two facilities will help bring in more residents and encourage the growth of ancillary businesses such as restaurants, home builders

Brenda Sisson, a broker with Century 21 Group One in Claremore, said the announcements will likely lead to more home buyers once hiring begins in earnest.

"It'll be absolutely excellent for us," she said. "We're looking forward to it."

Commercial real estate will also see a lift once Gatorade and Google begin hiring in earnest, said Gary Krisman, a principle with Tooman Partners.

"It's wonderful to have a corporation like Google make that choice," he said.

Krisman estimated the area immediately closest to the industrial park will see the most commercial benefit from the new plants, though he wasn't sure how much the Tulsa area would benefit.

Tramel said he's already fielding many more calls from builders and investors, and he expects many aspects of the city will shortly improve.

"Our infrastructure is going to improve, and our sales tax (receipts) will go up," he said.

In a press release, U.S. Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., said he's optimistic that Google will encourage more tech companies to establish themselves in the state.

"Google's presence shows good-paying, high-tech jobs aren't just for Silicon Valley," he said. "It is my hope that other high-tech firms will follow their lead and take a look at eastern Oklahoma.

Giant dates only to '98

Sanford University Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin created what became Google in a garage in Menlo Park, Calif., in 1998.

Lloyd Taylor, director of operations for Google Inc., said the two scrounged whatever computers they could find for the project, and even housed one in a base made of Lego bricks. The name is a play on the word googol, which is a number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeroes.

Google's search technology quickly took off, and the company now says it's the most popular search engine in the world in terms of users.

Today, Google employs 12,000 people worldwide, with 40 sales, operations and engineering offices, including New York; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Atlanta; Chicago; London; Paris; Rome; Tokyo; and Sydney, Australia, in addition to its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.

The company keeps the size and number of data centers, or "server farms," it operates a secret for competitive reasons. However, Google recently announced new facilities near Goose Creek, S.C., and Lenoir, N.C., that will employ roughly the same number as the planned facility in Pryor.

In addition, news reports indicate that Google is pursuing additional facilities near Columbia, S.C., and Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Google's growing suite of free Web services include Gmail, a mapping system called Google Earth, online shopping, blogging tools, photo storage and an online word processing suite.

Revenue comes mostly from AdWords, a targeted advertising program, which is the largest in the industry.

Google has been growing through acquisitions recently.

The company acquired online video company YouTube on Oct. 10 for $1.65 billion. It also acquired JobSpot in October and Adscape Media Inc. in March.

In addition, Google has announced plans to purchase online advertising company DoubleClick Inc. for $3.1 billion, though the Federal Trade Commission has not yet approved the deal.

Robert Evatt 581-8447
robert.evatt@tulsaworld.com