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With New Google Data Center, Husted Calls Columbus 'Tech Hub' Of Midwest

By Andy Chow

Published November 1, 2019 at 8:10 PM EDT

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) at new Google Data Center in New Albany. [Andy Chow] — Lt. Gov. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) at new Google Data Center in New Albany.

Google broke ground on a new $600 million data center in New Albany, a central Ohio suburb. The data center is expected to generate about 50 jobs within the next few years.

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) says the new development is a large display of investment from Google which will impact the local economy.

"There's real benefits, to real people who live here and call central Ohio home. You see all the men and women coming back, these are jobs, they have families it helps them pay the mortgage, pay for their cars, save for the future," says Husted.

The tech giant received a 15-year property tax abatement from New Albany and a 15-year sales tax exemption from the state. The latter is estimated to be a $43.5 million tax break.

Husted says the benefits will far outweigh the tax breaks.

"This will fuel the economy for many years in Ohio and it will give us a strategic when we're talking to anyone in the globe when we say 'where's the tech hub of the Midwest?' I think it's going to be Columbus, Ohio," Husted says.

He adds that charging a sales tax would have chased Google out of the state.