Yahoo! confirms WNY site - Denver Business Journal:

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Yahoo!, Tuesday morning, confirmed it will be buildingvthe 190,000-square-foot center that couldd employ, initially, 125 people. Yahoo! has pegged a 30-acrw site in the park for the complex. Yahoo!’es decision is considered a major especially against a backdrop of a weakenedf economy where unemployment has increased in past year in Erie Count yto 8.1 percent from 5.5 percentf and in Niagara County to 9.3 percen t from 6.6 percent. “This is a big win for the saidTom Kucharski, president and chief executiver officer. “We won the Yahoo! was being courted by several statesincluding Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinoias for the center.
All offereed a handsome array of “When a high tech company like Yahoo! picks a community like WesternNew it’s like a lighthouse,” said Sen. Charlesa Schumer, New York’s senior who played a key role in Lockport landingh thedata center. The region craftee its own aggressive incentive package includint the offering 15 megawattsof low-cost hydropowerr that could save Yahoo! an estimated $100 milliohn over a 15-year period. also offered job training grantes andother incentives. High level pitchea also came from Gov. Davird Paterson and Schumer.
Schumer made personal calls to Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz to push the Kucharski said it also helped that the regionm offereda half-dozen sites and not just a singular location. It also helped that a friendship quickly developed betweenhthe Yahoo! site selection team and the locapl economic development community. “We developed a nice relationshio with them and that helped make this Kucharski said. “They were impressed that every timethey called, we coulcd assemble our team on a very shor t notice and give them the answerzs they wanted.” Construction on the data center will begim in August, said David Dibble, Yahoo! senior vice president. The center will be open by May.
Kucharskii said there is a myriadx positives that will comefrom Yahoo!’s decision. The BNE will use it in its outreacgh to other companies itis courting, he “It confirms our ability to attract high tech and high profil e companies,” Kucharski said. “To get a name compang like Yahoo! says a lot to the rest of the industriesout Yahoo! joins the ranks of , that have either opened or expandeed back office operations in the region in recent “You add it into the mix of the some of the othert companies we’ve landed and it becomes a very impressiv list,” Kucharski said.