ALPHARETTA, Ga. — One of the world's largest technology companies is making a multimillion dollar investment in Alpharetta, and city leaders are hopeful the investment will lead to new jobs.
Hewlett-Packard, which operates a sprawling facility on Westside Parkway, gave Channel 2 Action News a firsthand look at its newest innovation, an eco-friendly data center that an HP executive called the wave of the future.
"This is the next generation of computer equipment," said Ken Gray, Vice President of IT Infrastructure for the company. "We have data centers we've committed to build here in Alpharetta and Suwanee, so this is a continuation of the investments we've already made in Georgia."
Gray showed Channel 2's Mike Petchenik the new technology pods that hold servers of computer information and use 95 percent less energy than traditional data centers already in use. Each "ecopod," as they're called, has a sophisticated cooling system that keeps the servers from putting off too much heat.
"This is a turnkey solution for our customers," Gray told Petchenik. "We can represent the facilities inside here, the storage, the networking and the software and even the services inside here."
Gray told Petchenik the company chose to make the investments in metro Atlanta because of the talented workforce and the quality college graduates from Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia.
"Atlanta attracts talent from all over the Southeast region and all over the world," he said.
Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle told Petchenik he's glad to see the investments at one of the city's largest employers. He said the company employs nearly 1,200 people and has the capacity to grow.
"They've chosen Alpharetta because we're a business-friendly city and we have the fiber optic cable in place," he said. "That commitment and the importance the facility plays could lead to expansion and increased jobs in the Alpharetta area."