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Golden Member
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Google Inc. plans to open a new facility in the Ann Arbor area and hire 1,000 workers there over the next five years, according to a published report.
The plan, which officials said would boost Michigan's economy, was scheduled to be unveiled at news conference in Lansing on Tuesday morning, the Detroit Free Press said. It said Google would announce plans to build a headquarters for its AdWords unit, which handles "pay-per-click" advertising to users of Google's Internet search engine.
"This is a huge, huge, huge, huge thing," Gov. Jennifer Granholm told Free Press columnist Tom Walsh. "It's a tremendous statement about Michigan having a cutting-edge work force."
Democrat Granholm is being challenged for re-election by Republican Dick DeVos. She has been criticized for not attracting high-tech jobs to the state.
Michigan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.0 percent in May, compared with a national rate of 4.6 percent that month. Economists have said they expect the state jobless rate to climb until 2008.
Ann Arbor is a city of 113,271 about 35 miles west of Detroit. It is home of the University of Michigan and of a number of high-tech businesses.
Job opportunities with Mountain View, Calif.-based Google's Ann Arbor-area facility were expected to be available as early as Tuesday, Google officials said.
"We worry less about experience than raw talent," said David Fischer, Google's director of online sales and operations. "We've had tremendous success hiring people straight out of universities, with majors from engineering to art history."
Google co-founder Larry Page, an East Lansing native and University of Michigan graduate, was a major supporter of the decision to locate in Ann Arbor, Granholm said.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/15012375.htm
The plan, which officials said would boost Michigan's economy, was scheduled to be unveiled at news conference in Lansing on Tuesday morning, the Detroit Free Press said. It said Google would announce plans to build a headquarters for its AdWords unit, which handles "pay-per-click" advertising to users of Google's Internet search engine.
"This is a huge, huge, huge, huge thing," Gov. Jennifer Granholm told Free Press columnist Tom Walsh. "It's a tremendous statement about Michigan having a cutting-edge work force."
Democrat Granholm is being challenged for re-election by Republican Dick DeVos. She has been criticized for not attracting high-tech jobs to the state.
Michigan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.0 percent in May, compared with a national rate of 4.6 percent that month. Economists have said they expect the state jobless rate to climb until 2008.
Ann Arbor is a city of 113,271 about 35 miles west of Detroit. It is home of the University of Michigan and of a number of high-tech businesses.
Job opportunities with Mountain View, Calif.-based Google's Ann Arbor-area facility were expected to be available as early as Tuesday, Google officials said.
"We worry less about experience than raw talent," said David Fischer, Google's director of online sales and operations. "We've had tremendous success hiring people straight out of universities, with majors from engineering to art history."
Google co-founder Larry Page, an East Lansing native and University of Michigan graduate, was a major supporter of the decision to locate in Ann Arbor, Granholm said.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/15012375.htm
