Officials celebrate Google's $2 billion investment in southeast Fort Wayne

By Brittany Smith

Google is officially coming to Fort Wayne, Ind., and bringing an expanded package of development with it.

At a press conference for the groundbreaking of Google’s new data center, Gov. Eric Holcomb, Indiana Secretary of Commerce David Rosenberg and company executives shared the $2 billion investment is expected to create 200 new jobs.

As part of Google’s initial investments in the Fort Wayne community, the company is contributing $250,000 to the new Fort Wayne Early Learning Center and Just Neighbors Interfaith Homeless Network.

Google also made commitments to bring its Skilled Trades and Readiness Program or STAR to Fort Wayne through a partnership with Ivy Tech Community College.

Google also announced a collaboration with Indiana Michigan Power (I&M), which will help bring new clean energy resources to the area and support Google’s efforts to run all of its 13 nationwide data centers on carbon-free energy.

Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker said she’s excited about what Google’s investment means for the city.

“A week ago on Friday my name was Councilwoman Tucker and I cheered for this because I know what it will do for this district where it's located. And now as Mayor Tucker, I'm extremely excited because I know what it will do for our city as a whole,” Tucker said.

Sen. Todd Young said this collaboration with Google is just one of the many projects that will make Indiana a critical part of the digital infrastructure of the 21st century and will help attract more opportunities in the future.

“From AI to personal computing to GPS, this is a data-driven world. A point others have emphasized, but is increasingly evident as we watch this hyper-dynamic, hyper-dependent economy evolve. Indiana's a critical part, I believe, in this digital infrastructure of the 21st century economy,” Young added.

Data centers owned by Google power its digital services like Google Cloud, Gmail. Google Docs, Search and Maps for people around the world. There are 13 other data centers located across the United States.