GAINES TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) – Construction is taking place at the site of a tech company’s expansion into western Michigan and the data center is on track to open this year. Roger Martin, a spokesman for the project by Nevada-based Switch, says in an email late Thursday that more than 70 workers from a number of western Michigan companies are working at the site in Kent County’s Gaines Township, near Grand Rapids. Martin says the initial construction budget remains $400 million. The data center will be based in a pyramid-shaped building that once housed office furniture maker Steelcase’s research facility. Switch’s project was ensured through tax breaks that Michigan’s Republican Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law last year. Switch has estimated the campus will employ at least 1,000 and spend $5 billion over 10 years.
