Google says it will open an engineering operation in Durham that eventually could employ more than 1,000 people. The new Google Cloud hub plans to sublease space in downtown Durham from Duke University while it scouts for a permanent location.
The company says the office will be a hub for Google Cloud’s engineering team and eventually could grow into one of Google Cloud's top five engineering hubs.
"The office will serve as a hub for the company's cloud enterprise engineering team and represents a significant continued expansion of our nearly 16-year presence in North Carolina," said Lilyn Hester, Google's head of external affairs in the Southeast.
"The announcement builds on Google's long relationship with the state of North Carolina, which includes more than a billion dollars in investment," Hester continued.
In a prerecorded announcement, Gov. Roy Cooper applauded Google's expansion in the state.
"Silicon Valley helped define the future of the internet. Durham, North Carolina, will help define the future of cloud computing," Cooper said.
The news was part of a broader announcement by Google to invest $7 billion in offices and data centers nationwide, creating 10,000 jobs.
The new Durham site will significantly increase Google's presence in North Carolina. The company already has more than 600 employees in the state, including at a data center in Lenoir that opened in 2007 and an office in Chapel Hill that opened in 2005.
