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http://www.hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/releases?ID=5d4b834f-1b78-be3e-e0b1-b01c0bd451ff

As the longest-serving member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Hatch began working on bringing the Data Center to Utah in 2007. He held several conversations with seniors members of the Intelligence Community, and in 2008, Camp Williams was selected over 37 other sites as the location for the new Data Center. Hatch has continued to work with congressional committees to ensure the Data Center was fully authorized, and helped scale regulatory obstacles as well.

In September 2010, the Army Corps of Engineers awarded a construction contract to a consortium which includes the Big-D Construction Corporation in Salt Lake City.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50999978-76/utah-center-construction-national.html.csp

Center to build Utah’s economy, patriotic reputation
Salt Lake Tribune, The (UT) - Thursday, January 6, 2011
Author: Mike Gorrell The Salt Lake Tribune

Camp Williams - The creation of up to 10,000 construction jobs alone makes the Utah Data Center a great project for the state.

But speakers at Thursday’s ground-breaking ceremony for the $1.5 billion facility emphasized that economic benefits aside, the center solidifies Utah’s position as a leading defender of the American way of life.

“The threat posed by computer hackers is very real and growing,” Sen. Orrin Hatch , R-Utah, told more than 200 participants at the event commemorating the start of construction on the computerized center that will help U.S. intelligence agencies combat “cybersecurity” threats.

“This country defends itself against cyberattacks every day. It’s an arena where we need to defend ourselves,” he added. “This center will support the effort to better understand that threat.”

(snip)

http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/01/12/cyber.defense.center/index.html

(January 12, 2011)

The NSA will take the lead at the center, assisting the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies in protecting cyber networks.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, lobbied to get the center in his home state.

“The data center will be part of our expanding efforts to defend our Department of Defense computer systems from cyber attack and will also play a key role in helping Homeland Security keep our government’s civilian computer systems safe,” he said.

The new facility will give the NSA much needed computing and data storage space. A huge amount of cyber work is already done at NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland, and the Utah center will balance the load across the power grid.

“There are limits on the load,” one congressional official explained. “You can’t simultaneously run 12 showers in your home.”

Hatch said the 1 million-square-foot facility will have 100 to 200 full-time employees with expertise in information technology and electrical and mechanical engineering.