Tom Jacobik, Google's data center manager in Lenoir, recently spoke to the Happy Valley Ruritans Club. Tom received a welcoming introduction by the chairperson of the Caldwell County Commissioners, Faye Higgins.
Faye's commitment to the future of her community was instrumental in bringing Google to Caldwell County. She and other local leaders made a strong case that their area was right for a data center. She was tireless in her efforts -- but somehow still made time to be a wife, mother and grandmother.
A native of Caldwell County, Faye just received the Distinguished Woman of the Year award from the Caldwell Council for Women. These excerpts from her introduction of Tom offer a good idea of how she approaches progress and opportunity:
As you all know, the datacenter has been quite the talk in our community and for good reason. Google anticipates hiring up to 100 workers -- direct and contract -- over the first year of actual start up. The plan is to hire approximately 200 people for the Lenoir data center. These employees will get good salaries plus benefits. That's great for the people who'll work at the data center. But it's also good for everyone in Caldwell County. The Googlers of Caldwell County will pay taxes, shop at local stores, eat at local restaurants and contribute in many other ways to the richness of our local life.
Beyond the jobs, the data center diversifies our economy. This organization - the Ruritans - has long championed the economic engines that made our community and our state great. And together, we're keeping those industries strong. Not only that, we're strengthening our overall economic picture by ushering in new business and industries to stand beside those that have served us so well for so long. The data center puts a big piece of the so-called 'new economy' right here in Caldwell County. And that bodes well for our future.
So, in the spirit of the Ruritans' slogan "Fellowship, Goodwill and Community Service," I am pleased to introduce to you now, Tom Jacobik. Tom is the site manager for the Google datacenter in Lenoir. Prior to joining Google, Jacobik was director of tactical operations for the Oracle Corporation and has served in IT leadership positions throughout his career and has more than 15 years experience in the technology industry.
Tom is like his colleagues at Google. He's down-to-earth and easy to like. At the same time, he wants to succeed. Not just as an individual, but as a team. And that team includes the people of Caldwell County.
I'd like to also say that Tom's skills as a manager are proven out by the fact that he's the father of seven children, including a set of triplets. The fact that the man could even get up this morning shows just how tough he is.
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