Company keeps many details of facility's operations hush-hush

COLUMBIA, SC - Google Inc. has started testing the $600 million data center that it is building near Goose Creek, although the company remains secretive about its hiring and operations.

The Silicon Valley search-engine giant has a local payroll "in the double digits" and plans to have the server-farm humming by the end of the year, according to Paul Froutan, director of Google's hardware operations. Froutan was the keynote speaker Wednesday night at a fundraising dinner for the Governor's

Google has started running tests at its new data center off U.S. Highway 52 in Goose Creek. The company has not disclosed details on the number of employees at the center or when it will be fully operational.

School for Science & Mathematics. He often has traveled to South Carolina in recent months to shepherd the Goose Creek center through construction.

"In general, I think it's been one of the smoothest data centers that we've done," Froutan said. "We're very happy with the progress."

The company has received resumes from all over the world for jobs at the Berkeley County plant, though it has been pleased with the local workforce.

"Recruiting locally is not only the right thing to do, it's good business practice," said Google spokesman Matt Dunne.

Six Google workers are alumni of the Governor's School for Science and Mathematics.

Although relatively cheap electricity and water were some of the biggest factors in Google choosing Goose Creek as the location for the data center, the company said it is planning to generate energy from renewable sources on the site.

The technology giant has a corporate goal to help make renewable energy cheaper than electricity derived from coal, which will constitute most of the power pumped into the Goose Creek site.

"It will be everywhere," Froutan said of his employer's "green" program. "Where we have applications, we'll be looking at these things."

Google still is clandestine about its operations, particularly its data centers. Froutan declined to say how many people are working at the 500-acre South Carolina site or if it already is handling any search requests from Internet users.

Dunne said the secrecy is necessary to protect Google's competitive advantage and that it has become increasingly important as the firm stores more personal information. Last week, for example, Google unveiled a system to compile health records.

The company, however, is trying to be more open, which Dunne called "a big shift."

"Google has been successful because it has understood the online community. ... What they haven't been as involved with is the kind of on-the-ground community that is necessary when you're building large pieces of infrastructure," Dunne said. "Learning how to do that better is part of the process."

Odds are good that no one will know when the Goose Creek facility is fully in use. A ribbon-cutting is unlikely, and forget about hard-hat tours.

Wackenhut Corp., the Florida-based company that guards the space shuttle and many of the country's nuclear power plants, is handling security at the Berkeley County plant.

John Scarborough, director of economic development in Berkeley County, said he has not been through the Google gates since the deal closed last year. But he drops the Internet giant's name often when he's talking to prospective employers looking to bring new jobs to the county.

"It lets people know we play in the big leagues," Scarborough said. "You lay that map out and say 'This is the half that Google bought,' and people pay attention."