Google Data Center in Clarksville, with enough cable to lasso the moon, settling into neighborhood

CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Rotary Club of Clarksville welcomed Normand Adkisson, data program manager for the Google Data Center in Clarksville, to talk this week about the facility, which is one of 24 such centers around the world.

In 2018, Google took over the property that was formerly the Hemlock Semiconductor site. “The data center is our engine that powers all of the services that we provide. That’s email, YouTube, photos, all of our file business, and all that sort of thing,” Adkisson said.

Sharing some facts and figures, Adkisson said there is enough cable in a single data center like the one in Clarksville to lasso the moon or to circle the earth’s equator 10 times, and last year 21 percent of all global internet traffic was handled by Google.

Adkisson said the data centers run 24/7 with staff on hand to take care of them. “It’s pretty special we have a data center here in Clarksville, and we are proud to be here,” Adkisson said.

Of course, Google has extremely high security on the campus of each of its data centers, and Adkisson said you must be invited before you can enter one of them. “A little-known fact is that Google has about 192,000 employees, and less than 1 percent of all Google employees have been in a data center,” he said.

Adkisson talked about what he called the three pillars or philosophy of the Google data centers including the site in Clarksville: investing in infrastructure, investing in people and investing in the community.

Google doesn’t want to just show up in a community but wants it to be like moving into a neighborhood. “We want to help the neighborhood, build the community, and be good neighbors and partners with everyone here,” Adkisson said.

Working at Google

When it comes to investing in people, Adkisson said that because Google is a tech company, one of the great misconceptions about the data centers are that you have to be a computer whiz to work there, and that is not at all the case.

“At our data center facilities, we have a wide range of jobs from electrical technicians, mechanical engineers, HVAC technicians, security folks, environmental health, and safety folks. We have jobs that we help train for here at Clarksville and all of our data campuses,” he said.

The Clarksville data center also has a 30% veteran work force. There is also a Grow Google Certificate Program that allows people to improve their station in the work force and to up-skill or re-skill for jobs in the 21st century.

Helping the community

Adkisson said Google is also trying to create a more inclusive job market by helping out small businesses with the Grow with Google Business Program, which offers resources for small businesses.

For their investment in the community, Adkisson said since 2018, Google has given more than $600,000 in grants to local nonprofits and schools through sponsorships and partnerships. In one program, Google partnered with Clarksville Parks and Recreation to offer Wi-Fi in four city parks.

Another was the Rolling Study Hall Program, which extended technology access for students on some school buses in Clarksville-Montgomery County in a partnership with the Clarksville-Montgomery County Education Foundation.

“We’ve supported several organizations like Austin Peay State University, Operation Stand Down Tennessee, Manna Café Ministries, and Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools just to name a few,” Adkisson said.