A small town, a suburb as most would call it, just to the east of Des Moines is growing with leaps and bounds thanks to its recent acquisition of several new businesses and companies. Altoona, IA – which to many used to only be known as the location of Adventureland, Iowa’s beloved amusement park – has grown significantly over the past few years. First it became home to the outdoor megastore, Bass Pro Shops. Now it is moving into the technology market by welcoming Facebook and a nearly $300 million project.

Altoona will soon become home to the third of Facebook’s data centers in the country. This giant center will hold the custom designed servers that aide in connecting Facebook’s billions of users on a daily basis. Located on 200 acres, the project includes a 476,000 square foot building that will be using the latest technology in energy efficiency as well as the latest technology in server designs. Altoona had to compete with several other locations, including neighboring Nebraska, to secure the project. It will now be joining North Carolina and Oregon who house similar data center.

The residents of Altoona and of the state of Iowa are not only excited to say they will be home to Facebook, but are also eager to bring hundreds of new jobs to the state. The data center will require numerous construction jobs and will then employ more than 30 full-time operations jobs. Along with an approved $18 million in tax benefits the new center will also receive local incentives from the city of Altoona. Both the governor of Iowa, Terry Branstad and mayor of Altoona, Skip Conkling are excited for the opportunities this new endeavor will bring to both the city and the state. They hope it will also get Iowa recognition as a leader in technology in the Midwest.