Brinson Askew Berry partner William Richardson and associate Jacob Harper represented the Rome Floyd County Development Authority (RFCDA) as the authority reached an agreement with Microsoft for the technology giant to build a data center in Floyd County.

Microsoft says it will invest $1 billion in a data center campus on the 347-acre property off Huffaker Road. Named Project Firecracker, the data center will create 150 new jobs.

“This is a tremendous investment in our community by one of the largest companies in the world,” Richardson said. “It’s more than just a financial investment. It’s a vote of confidence in Rome and Floyd County as an emerging tech hub. Missy Kendrick and her team at RFCDA are an invaluable asset to our community. It was an honor to work along side Missy and her team as they worked tirelessly to bring Project Firecracker to fruition.”

The data center will support the company’s cloud technologies and Azure business. Azure, a cloud computing platform run by Microsoft, provides access, management and application development and services through a network of global data centers.

Microsoft analyzed locations across the U.S. and centered on the Huffaker Road site for several reasons.

“Rome and Floyd County’s industrial zoning and strong infrastructure led to our decision to locate our datacenter campus there,” Microsoft Director of Community Engagement Paul Englis said. “Today’s announcement is just the start of our mutual collaboration and Microsoft’s long term-term commitment to the local community.”