W. Jordan wins Oracle plant

Data-storage center will employ 100 people at high wages. Business software giant Oracle Corp. on Monday said it will build a data-storage center in West Jordan that will employ around 100 people when the center opens in two years.
Oracle said it would go ahead with the $285 million data center after Utah economic development officials agreed Friday to offer the Redwood City, Calif.-based company up to $15 million in tax-rebate incentives.
In addition, West Jordan has promised Oracle a $10 million incentive - to be funded by the new property taxes that the data center is expected to generate.
Several local governments will also provide about $10 million to Oracle. Representatives of the governments will meet in July to determine how the incentive will be structured, West Jordan community development director Tom Burdett said.
The company plans to break ground this summer on the 200,000-square-foot data center in the Bingham Business Park at 6200 West and 9600 South.
"It's a big coup for the state. These are very high-paying jobs, even in Salt Lake City, in an industry we are trying to grow," said Jason Perry, executive director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development.
Oracle said it will pay wages averaging $64,000, for a total payroll of $7.3 million. Wages will be approximately 200 percent of the Salt Lake County average wage, GOED spokesman Michael Sullivan said.
Oracle said the data center is expected to open by early 2010 for its global information technology operations.
The data center will support Oracle's on-demand division, which stores and retrieves data for business customers.
It will also assist ''our research-and-development and customer-service requirements,'' Oracle President Safra Catz said in a statement.
"An opportunity like this doesn't come along every day," said West Jordan City Manager Gary Luebbers. "But when it did, we engaged every available resource to convince Oracle to locate in West Jordan. We anticipate Oracle will be a strong partner with the city for decades to come."
Oracle chose Utah for the data center after considering locations in several states. Last month, the company appeared to have settled on property in Meridian, Idaho, but changed its mind when a property owner raised the price of the site at the last moment, according to the Idaho Business Review in Boise.
Oracle already employs 150 people in Utah at a software sales and support office in Sandy.

Author: Paul Beebe @ www.sltrib.com

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