AX079_22B8_9.JPG

This photo provided by Google shows a Google data center in Douglas County, Ga. (AP Photo/Google, Connie Zhou)

Any time you do a Google search, navigate Google Maps or Earth, use Gmail or watch a video on YouTube, you're supporting a data center like the one to be built next year in Jackson County.

As Internet connectivity expands throughout the world, the tech giant set out to open its 14th data center to keep up with growing demand. Google representative A.J. Jongewaard said the Stevenson/Bridgeport site had "the right combination of energy infrastructure and developable land" to meet Google's needs.

"They know that the climate is right, they know the workforce is right and they know there are opportunities there," he said. "In Jackson County, everything came together perfectly."

Job opportunities

Situated near high-tech cities Chattanooga and Huntsville, the future data center will be under construction sometime next year and employ up to 100 permanent workers with an average annual salary of $45,000, plus benefits.

Jobs will include full-time and contractor positions, such as computer technicians and engineers to food service, maintenance and security roles. The company, which is not yet hiring for the Alabama site, encourages job seekers to check its website to learn more about positions at other data centers.

Google says it tries to hire locally whenever possible.

"They would love to have people applying for these jobs that meet the skill sets they're looking for," said Jackson County Economic Development Authority CEO and President Dus Rogers.

[Related: Want a job at Google's new Alabama data center? Here's what we know now]

The site, which will operate on 350 acres of land at the soon-to-retire Widows Creek Fossil Plant, is about an hour from Huntsville, recently touted as the best city for engineers in America and the second best place for technology jobs in the U.S. The area's highly-educated population and reputation as a hub for innovation and creativity likely convinced Google to land there.

A different project for Jackson County

Rogers said Google considered many sites, but the TVA land had the electrical and water infrastructure they were looking for.

"It's a lot different project for us than what we're accustomed to working," he said. "It links the Tennessee Valley corridor from Oak Ridge through Chattanooga to Huntsville.

"Now we're a little bit bigger part of that here in Jackson County."

Patrick Gammons, senior manager of Data Center Energy and Location Strategy for Google, called data centers the "engines of the Internet, bringing the power of the web to millions of people around the world."

"And as millions more people come online, our data centers are growing, too," he wrote on Google's official blog Wednesday.

Google recently expanded data centers in Georgia, Iowa, Singapore and Belgium. The Alabama center will repurpose existing electric and other infrastructure at the Alabama plant to serve users around the globe.

A future for the coal plant

Take a walk through a Google data center in North Carolina by clicking here or watch the video below:

Gammons said the Alabama site will have Google-made servers, more efficient cooling, and advanced machine learning "to squeeze more out of every watt of power we consume."

"Since the 1960s, Widows Creek has generated power for the region -- now the site will be used to power Internet services and bring information to people around the world," he said.

Rogers said the Jackson County community was shaken when it learned the fossil plant would close, but the Google announcement brings hope to residents and leaders throughout the region.

"Folks over here have a big smile on their face," he said. "We're all a little overwhelmed right now."