Great news here, friends! The article says it all, but this is a significant event, particularly from a "vote of confidence" for the region from what is probably the single most respected, admired organization on the planet. Thanks, Google - we needed this!
Google coming to Ann Arbor
Center to bring 1,000 badly needed high-tech jobs to state
BY TOM WALSHFREE PRESS COLUMNIST
July 11, 2006
Michigan's battered economy will get a big psychological boost today when Google Inc., the high-flying Internet search engine giant, announces plans to hire up to 1,000 workers over the next five years for a new Ann Arbor-area facility.
California-based Google's decision to expand in Michigan, a state marked by the exodus of its college graduates to more prosperous regions, also is a timely win politically for Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Granholm is facing a re-election battle in November against well-financed Republican challenger Dick DeVos.
At an 11 a.m. news conference in Lansing today, Google will unveil plans to create a headquarters facility for its Google AdWords unit. AdWords offers "pay-per-click" ads that are triggered when Google users search for certain words. It is the company's bread-and-butter advertising product and its primary source of revenue.
Google officials said they will start posting openings as early as today for jobs at the Ann Arbor facility at www.google.com/jobs.
The jobs will vary in skill demands and pay. The average salary for new hires is expected to be $47,000 a year.
"This is a huge, huge, huge, huge thing," Granholm said Monday. "It's a tremendous statement about Michigan having a cutting-edge workforce."
Before this morning's news conference, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority is expected to approve $38 million in Single Business Tax credits over 20 years for Google, whose development is expected to generate $165 million in tax revenue over that time.
As Google evaluates specific sites, it will work with local communities on other possible incentives to complement the MEGA tax credits.
"I don't know if there's a cooler company in America than Google," said James Epolito, chief executive officer of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. "They're looking for very skilled people at a time when we're trying to keep our kids in the state of Michigan."
The MEDC has been wooing Google ardently for about a year, ever since reports surfaced that the company was looking at Ann Arbor, Boston, Boulder, Colo., and the Phoenix area as possible sites for expansion.
David Fischer, Google's director of online sales and operations, said Monday that the company's focus is on hiring bright, motivated people.
"We worry less about experience than raw talent. We've had tremendous success hiring people straight out of universities, with majors from engineering to art history."
Google cofounder Larry Page, an East Lansing native and 1995 engineering graduate from the University of Michigan, was a major supporter of the decision to locate in Ann Arbor, Granholm said.
Google already has a small sales office in Southfield.
No decision has been made yet on whether Google will build or lease space in Washtenaw County. Grady Burnett, who will head the new Ann Arbor operation, said he hopes to open an office, probably in temporary quarters, this fall.
"All options are on the table," he said Monday.
Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., began in 1996 as a research project for Page and Sergey Brin when they were PhD students at Stanford University. Today it has 6,800 workers and is the world's largest Internet search company.
The reach of the Ann Arbor-area operation will be global.
After going public in 2004, Google's stock price has soared from $100.34 to a high of $475.11 per share earlier this year. It closed Monday at $418.20, down $2.25 on the day. At Monday's price, the total value of all the Google shares is about $127 billion.
That's nearly $50 billion more than the combined value of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG. Toyota Motor Corp.'s value is $171 billion.
It's hard to overstate the importance for Michigan of landing a major expansion of a company with the cutting edge cachet of Google.
The declining fortunes of GM and Ford, along with the related bankruptcy filings of major automotive suppliers Delphi Corp., Collins & Aikman and Tower Automotive have hammered Michigan's economy.
Swedish-owned refrigerator manufacturer Electrolux closed its Greenville plant and moved 3,000 jobs to Mexico this year.
And along with neighboring Indiana and Ohio, Michigan is among the states with the greatest net loss of its college graduates to other states.
Although Michigan has had some successes during Granholm's first term -- new research operations promised by Toyota and Hyundai, plus the move of auto parts maker Borg-Warner's headquarters to Auburn Hills -- they've been obscured by the bad news.
If Michigan is to shed its Rust Belt image and avoid becoming an industrial backwater in the new global economy, it's clear that the state must diversify and emphasize the strength of its research universities in producing scientists and engineers.
Granholm has pushed those buttons hard in creating a $2-billion 21st Century Jobs Fund, aimed at creating and attracting growth of companies in life sciences, alternative energy and other high-technology fields.
"We see Michigan as an ideal location to recruit the best and brightest workers," said Fischer of Google.
If Google's experience in Michigan meets its expectations, the state couldn't ask for a better testimonial.
Center to bring 1,000 badly needed high-tech jobs to state
BY TOM WALSHFREE PRESS COLUMNIST
July 11, 2006
Michigan's battered economy will get a big psychological boost today when Google Inc., the high-flying Internet search engine giant, announces plans to hire up to 1,000 workers over the next five years for a new Ann Arbor-area facility.
California-based Google's decision to expand in Michigan, a state marked by the exodus of its college graduates to more prosperous regions, also is a timely win politically for Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Granholm is facing a re-election battle in November against well-financed Republican challenger Dick DeVos.
At an 11 a.m. news conference in Lansing today, Google will unveil plans to create a headquarters facility for its Google AdWords unit. AdWords offers "pay-per-click" ads that are triggered when Google users search for certain words. It is the company's bread-and-butter advertising product and its primary source of revenue.
Google officials said they will start posting openings as early as today for jobs at the Ann Arbor facility at www.google.com/jobs.
The jobs will vary in skill demands and pay. The average salary for new hires is expected to be $47,000 a year.
"This is a huge, huge, huge, huge thing," Granholm said Monday. "It's a tremendous statement about Michigan having a cutting-edge workforce."
Before this morning's news conference, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority is expected to approve $38 million in Single Business Tax credits over 20 years for Google, whose development is expected to generate $165 million in tax revenue over that time.
As Google evaluates specific sites, it will work with local communities on other possible incentives to complement the MEGA tax credits.
"I don't know if there's a cooler company in America than Google," said James Epolito, chief executive officer of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. "They're looking for very skilled people at a time when we're trying to keep our kids in the state of Michigan."
The MEDC has been wooing Google ardently for about a year, ever since reports surfaced that the company was looking at Ann Arbor, Boston, Boulder, Colo., and the Phoenix area as possible sites for expansion.
David Fischer, Google's director of online sales and operations, said Monday that the company's focus is on hiring bright, motivated people.
"We worry less about experience than raw talent. We've had tremendous success hiring people straight out of universities, with majors from engineering to art history."
Google cofounder Larry Page, an East Lansing native and 1995 engineering graduate from the University of Michigan, was a major supporter of the decision to locate in Ann Arbor, Granholm said.
Google already has a small sales office in Southfield.
No decision has been made yet on whether Google will build or lease space in Washtenaw County. Grady Burnett, who will head the new Ann Arbor operation, said he hopes to open an office, probably in temporary quarters, this fall.
"All options are on the table," he said Monday.
Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., began in 1996 as a research project for Page and Sergey Brin when they were PhD students at Stanford University. Today it has 6,800 workers and is the world's largest Internet search company.
The reach of the Ann Arbor-area operation will be global.
After going public in 2004, Google's stock price has soared from $100.34 to a high of $475.11 per share earlier this year. It closed Monday at $418.20, down $2.25 on the day. At Monday's price, the total value of all the Google shares is about $127 billion.
That's nearly $50 billion more than the combined value of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG. Toyota Motor Corp.'s value is $171 billion.
It's hard to overstate the importance for Michigan of landing a major expansion of a company with the cutting edge cachet of Google.
The declining fortunes of GM and Ford, along with the related bankruptcy filings of major automotive suppliers Delphi Corp., Collins & Aikman and Tower Automotive have hammered Michigan's economy.
Swedish-owned refrigerator manufacturer Electrolux closed its Greenville plant and moved 3,000 jobs to Mexico this year.
And along with neighboring Indiana and Ohio, Michigan is among the states with the greatest net loss of its college graduates to other states.
Although Michigan has had some successes during Granholm's first term -- new research operations promised by Toyota and Hyundai, plus the move of auto parts maker Borg-Warner's headquarters to Auburn Hills -- they've been obscured by the bad news.
If Michigan is to shed its Rust Belt image and avoid becoming an industrial backwater in the new global economy, it's clear that the state must diversify and emphasize the strength of its research universities in producing scientists and engineers.
Granholm has pushed those buttons hard in creating a $2-billion 21st Century Jobs Fund, aimed at creating and attracting growth of companies in life sciences, alternative energy and other high-technology fields.
"We see Michigan as an ideal location to recruit the best and brightest workers," said Fischer of Google.
If Google's experience in Michigan meets its expectations, the state couldn't ask for a better testimonial.
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