Tech giant Apple is reportedly in the planning stages of building a new state-of-the-art data center in Waukee, Iowa. The news was bought to light by The Des Moines Register after the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) published its agenda for August 24, 2017, with one key point on the schedule stating ‘Review of Application for Investment; Apple, Inc.—Waukee’.
At a meeting that will take place tomorrow morning, the IEDA board plans to review Apple’s application for investment in the city and will ‘consider an undisclosed amount of incentives’ to encourage Apple to build the data center. The board meeting will also include 10 minutes of public comments so that locals can share their thoughts on the proposed project. The code name Apple is using for this data center is Project Morgan.
Iowa is fast being recognized as a data center hotspot in the US, a point that was stressed by the President of the Technology Association of Iowa, Brian Walker:
It’s a really positive thing for Iowa that these companies are putting their prized possessions in the hands of Iowa. I just think to have a fourth titan of the tech industry, and one you visibly hold in your hand or the majority of people hold in their hands, it’s just a great thing.
Iowa is currently home to one Google data center, two Microsoft data centers and three Facebook data centers. State officials say that tech companies are provided with ‘millions in tax incentives’ to build their data centers there.