DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Google Inc. will build a $600 million data center in western Iowa, Gov. Chet Culver announced June 19.

The online search leader has already begun construction on a 55-acre (22 ha) site in Council Bluffs, across the Missouri River from Omaha, Neb. The center is expected to create approximately 200 jobs with an average salary of approximately $50,000.

“Google’s decision to make Iowa the home of their newest server farm will have a tremendous impact on Council Bluffs, western Iowa and our entire state,” Culver said.

Culver welcomed the additional, well-paying jobs and said the data center would help Iowa modernize its 21st century economy.

“These jobs will no doubt attract some of the smartest and brightest to our state, and keep our talented young people at home,” he said.

The center, which will be part of Google’s worldwide network of such sites, is expected to open in the spring of 2009 at the Council Bluffs Industrial Foundation’s new business park. It will house computers that run the search engine’s services. Workers there will include software and data center technicians as well as maintenance and other facilities support.

There is plenty of room for expansion at the site, as Google purchased approximately 1,185 acres (479 ha), according to state economic development officials. Google has said it is particularly interested in the central region of the United States because it is a crossroads for Internet activity.

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