Emerson shows off its new data center in Ferguson
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/28/2009
BY Tim Barker
Ferguson-based Emerson on Monday unveiled a new $50 million data center that's part of an ongoing plan to consolidate its worldwide information infrastructure.
The facility is one of four that will replace more than 100 now being used by the global manufacturer of cooling equipment, appliances and tools. The 35,000-square-foot facility, which will begin operations next month, features a range of energy saving features, including a 550-panel rooftop solar array that will supply the center with roughly 20 percent of its power needs.
Speaking about the company's efforts to build an energy-efficient center, Chief Executive David Farr was critical of government efforts to put new energy restrictions on businesses.
At a ceremony attended by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Springfield, Farr said anything that increases energy costs in the Midwest and elsewhere will place the country at a competitive disadvantage against those that don't have the same restrictions.
"You'll see an artificial inflation come into the cost of doing business," Farr said.
He said the "cap and trade" policies -- in which businesses would buy and sell emissions credits -- being debated in Washington would force businesses like Emerson to consider other options when deciding where to build high-tech centers like the one on the company's Ferguson campus. If those talks had been under way two years ago when work started on the center, Farr said he "would have had second thoughts about locating this facility here."
While the center represents a sizeable investment for Emerson, it isn't bringing a lot of jobs to the area. By its nature, the data center is a low-manpower structure. The facility will have fewer than two dozen employees, with only about half of them new positions. Still, as more of the company's smaller far-flung data centers are closed, the Ferguson site will likely gain employees.
"You'll see a migration of jobs toward this campus," Farr said.
