Mid-Michigan technology giant, Liquid Web, broke ground on an $80 million, 90,000 square foot data center in Delta Township, a move that will bring Liquid Web's employee count to 600 over the next several years.
“This should last three to four years depending on sales growth,” says Travis Stoliker, spokesman for Liquid Web. Liquid Web’s data centers house client servers. Liquid Web has two centers in Mid-Michigan. The second, located in west Lansing, is nearly full, a result of adding 250 to 300 customers every month.
Liquid Web currently has 140 employees and expects to hire 10 employees a month through 2009. Stoliker says when the data center is complete in early 2009, the company will have to increase its monthly hiring standard.
“We don’t lose many customers, and we don’t lose many employees, so we’re constantly growing,” Stoliker says. The new, 90,000 square foot data center will have second-floor office space for Liquid Web employees.
Liquid Web is on track to hit revenues of $20 million this year. From 2006 to 2007, Liquid Web grew by 67 percent. Liquid Web is growing into international markets and expects several new hires to speak foreign languages.
“We are very invested in finding the 600 employees from the Lansing area,” he says.
Liquid Web is trying to make its third datacenter more energy efficient and pocketbook-friendly. Data centers require constant air-conditioning, a requirement that doesn’t help the company’s $40,000 a month energy bill. To reduce this cost, Liquid Web is installing a louver system that will pull cool air from the outside into the data center. Stoliker says this green effort may reduce energy costs by 10 to 20 percent.
Liquid Web is also looking into other green building solutions, such as solar panels, that could reduce costs and minimize the company’s carbon footprint.
“It’s something that we’re really concerned about—we all live on this earth,” Stoliker says.
Source: Travis Stoliker, Liquid Web
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
Photo: Matthew Hill, Founder & CEO, David Hollister and Governor Granholm at the ground breaking.
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie
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