One new business and one business expansion in Eastern Idaho will bring more than 400 new job openings to the region. The FBI is building a new data center in the City of Pocatello and will be looking to hire about 350 by their 2019 opening. In addition, Buchanan & Edwards, a national cyber security and data management company recently announced expansion plans at their Pocatello facility with 50-80 hires needed.
“These are two significant economic development announcements for Eastern Idaho and the City of Pocatello,” said Jan Rogers, CEO of Regional Economic Development for Eastern Idaho (REDI). “The economic impact of these projects will be significant and will offer excellent employment opportunities for high tech talent,” she said.
The FBI $100 million, 100,000-square-foot data center, part of the Department of Justice Data Center Transformation Initiative, aims to consolidate the FBI’s several data centers into just three locations: Idaho, West Virginia and Washington DC.
Employment opportunities will range from entry to senior level. According to Richard Haley, FBI assistant director of finance, facilities and real property, “What we hope is to have enough different variety of jobs that someone coming in as entry level can be still in school and as they graduate can move into a skill position,” he said. Several factors played into bringing this facility to Eastern Idaho: less expensive power costs, and according to Haley, “It’s a beautiful landscape…Probably most important are the people (here).”1
Buchanan & Edwards applies big data analytics to protect Americans, engineer cloud solutions to improve delivery of citizen services or employ the latest cyber intelligence to increase network security.
They hope to fill 50 positions initially and up to 80 once established. “We are happy to be in the Pocatello-Chubbuck community where we have received great support getting established,” said Global Operations Vice President Mohamed Elansary. “Buchanan & Edwards planted a flag here two years ago with Bannock Development Corporation’s assistance and we see the region as a growth center for our company,” he said.
Idaho State University has formed a recruiting partnership with Buchanan & Edwards to help IT students land internships or permanent employment in computer science and software development. 2