An Indiana company has announced plans to build an 80,000 square foot data center near Columbus, Indiana, with the state providing more than $300,000 in incentives to get the project off the ground. The data center will be built and operated by Data Cave Inc., a new company spun off from Analytical Engineering, Inc. (AEI)
Data Cave said the two-story facility adjacent to AEI's headquarters in Columbus is expected to cost about $7 million to build, and will create 25 new jobs. The company said it will begin construction of the new data center in July and will begin hiring IT staff later this year.
"Creating an environment that attracts new job-creating investment from Hoosier companies and from businesses around the world is essential to Indiana's economic success," said Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. "Analytical Engineering's decision to start Data Cave and invest in Indiana is an indication that the environment we have created is working."
"Data Cave is a natural expansion of many of our core competencies into a growing market," said Caleb Tennis, president of Data Cave. "Locating this facility in Indiana adjacent to our sister company just makes sense. By doing so, we are able to build the infrastructure of the facility at a lower cost than many other locations and have access to our current mix of highly talented professionals.
"Those competitive advantages, coupled with the training programs and credits provided by the state and local community, will provide us a great pool of resources to grow this new business," Tennis said.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Data Cave $225,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $36,500 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans. The state will also provide the city of Columbus with a grant of up to $50,000 to cover the cost of extending fiber optic connectivity to the site. Columbus will provide the company with property tax abatement and extend fiber optic connectivity to the new data center.
"Data Cave is a company for the future starting today," said Mayor Fred Armstrong. "Columbus is on the map for technology companies. We look forward to working with Data Cave today and into the future."
