Facebook to expand Newton County data center, add 100 jobs

Social media giant boosts investment to $1 billion at facility
Facebook plans to expand its Newton County data center, which opened in 2020. The social media company will invest a total of $1 billion at the facility. (Handout)

Credit: Submitted by Facebook

Credit: Submitted by Facebook

Facebook plans to expand its Newton County data center, which opened in 2020. The social media company will invest a total of $1 billion at the facility. (Handout)

Facebook said Thursday it will expand its Newton County data center, hire more workers and boost its total investment at the facility by $250 million.

The social media giant plans an additional 100 jobs at the facility, increasing the total workforce to 200. It will construct three new buildings, adding 1.5 million square feet, boosting the center’s size to 2.5 million square feet.

The new activity will increase the Menlo Park, California-based company’s investment at the site from $750 million to $1 billion.

Facebook will also hire between 1,000 and 2,000 temporary construction workers for the project.

Located near Social Circle, the data center hosts computer servers that power the company’s namesake social-media site and its Instagram and WhatsApp applications.

It’s one of 15 data centers that Facebook operates worldwide. The Georgia facility opened earlier this year.

The Atlanta area has been a popular place for technology companies to build data centers. The supply of data center space in metro Atlanta increased about 40% between 2015 and 2019, according to commercial real estate firm CBRE.

Facebook said it plans to power all its global facilities with renewable energy, primarily by solar power, including the Newton County data center.