MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. — If Microsoft's proposed data center in Mount Pleasant gets the green light, it will generate a number of benefits according to local technology experts.
The computer giant wants to buy 315 acres of Foxconn's land for $50.1 million and build a $1 billion data center campus.
"I was really excited by the news. I think it's a wonderful thing for the region, bringing this newer technology," said Scott Schanke, assistant professor of information technology management at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
"Data centers are a facility that houses computer systems. It could be, you know, housing servers that serve up applications, so think about Google and Facebook. Those are all being served by these servers. It could be data storage facilities. So some of the data that is the lifeblood of organizations can also be stored in data centers. So it's not really clear, based off of the recent news, what type of data center they're going to be building," Schanke said.
Community leaders did not reveal how many jobs the data center could bring.
Experts have said data centers do not typically house a large number of day-to-day jobs since much of the operation is automated.
But there is still a benefit.
Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, explained that there would still be a benefit to the project even if it did not translate to a significant number of jobs.
WTC is an independent non-profit that works on policy-related issues.
"Whether it's construction related, whether it's the also the kind of businesses that can sometimes sprout up near data centers. Those can add jobs that are not related to the data center itself, but other sorts of services and pieces that are good for the local economy," Still said.
If approved, Microsoft's campus would be minutes away from Gateway Technical College.
The school's president, Ritu Raju, expressed an eagerness to work alongside them.
"Besides informing our curriculum, our partners also helped us to serve our students through internships through job placements, most definitely," Raju said.
The pending agreement is in the hands of the local government. Mount Pleasant's Village Board is scheduled to bring it up Thursday evening.
The Racine County Board could take action in April.
A spokesperson for Microsoft shared the following statement with TMJ4 News:
“Our data center campus investment plans with the Village of Mount Pleasant and Racine County are part of Microsoft’s long-term commitment to the local communities in Wisconsin. We look forward to our work there.”
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