As the need for hosted solutions grows, new research and development jobs will be generated at SAS’ world headquarters in Cary, where the majority of R&D employees (more than 1,400) are located.
“This project is proof that, despite the down economy, SAS continues to grow and innovate,” said Jim Goodnight, CEO of the company. “The growing demand by our customers for hosted solutions has given us this opportunity to invest even further in North Carolina and the Cary community.”
The facility will include two 10,000-square-foot server farms. Server Farm 1 is anticipated to be on-line mid-2010 and support growth for three to five years. Server Farm 2 will be constructed as a shell and will be populated with mechanical and electrical infrastructure once Server Farm 1 reaches 80 percent capacity.
“We are excited that SAS chose to build its new cloud computing facility in Cary,” said Ken Atkins, executive director of Wake County Economic Development. “SAS is a great corporate citizen and we appreciate its continued investment in Wake County. Even though we are in an economic downturn, SAS’ growth is another indicator that our region will be one of the first areas to come out of the recession.”
In keeping with SAS’ commitment to protecting the environment, the facility will be built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards for water and energy conservation.
The sustainable construction methods encourage recycling of materials, similar to SAS Executive Briefing Center currently under construction in Cary. In keeping with LEED standards, about 60 percent of the project’s construction and equipment spending will be in North Carolina, according to the company.
SAS’ first LEED building, SAS Canada’s headquarters in Toronto, opened in 2006.
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