Amazon to open US$1.1bn data centre in Ohio

29 Oct 2014

Ohio Gov John Kasich has revealed that e-commerce giant Amazon is planning to open a new US$1.1bn data centre in the state.

While the company itself has yet to officially announce the development, Kasich – currently on the campaign trail as he seeks re-election – has disclosed a meeting with an Amazon executive that confirmed the investment.

“I just met with one of the top officials at Amazon … They’re making a billion-dollar investment in cloud computing,” said Kasich during a campaign stop, as reported by The Columbus Dispatch. “So, what is coming is very exciting jobs to Ohio.”

When asked by an audience member if the date centre was definitely happening, Kasich replied, “They’ve already committed, yes.”

According to the Ohio Tax Credit Authority, the investment would be made over three years and create 120 jobs in the process. The cities of Dublin and Hilliard are said to be potential areas where the facility could end up in the state.

Responding to the governor’s comments, Amazon Web Services (AWS) released the following statement to Gigaom: “At AWS, we’re constantly looking for opportunities to expand our geographic coverage in order to provide lower latencies, higher operational efficiencies, and additional choice to customers in terms of where they operate their applications and store their data. Today there are 11 AWS regions around the world, four of which are in the US, and we are constantly evaluating a long list of additional target countries and US locations.”

It’s a busy time for Amazon, as it prepares to open its first ever bricks-and-mortar store on Midtown Manhattan’s famed 34th Street, across from the Empire State Building, and right up the street from Macy’s department store. Rather than operating as a traditional retail store, however, the outlet will essentially be run like a mini-warehouse, The Wall Street Journal reported. This will allow customers to collect their online purchases, as well as exchange or return them if necessary. The store will also allow for same-day delivery within the New York area.

Amazon image via Shutterstock

Dean Van Nguyen was a contributor to Silicon Republic

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