6.1. ERMUSR 04-10-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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More room for data centers in Elk River Posted: 2:59 pm Tue, Mazch 27, 2012 By Chris Newmarker Tags: Collin Bazr, data center, Dennis Spalla, Elk River, Luci Botzek. UnitedHealth Groun The UnitedHealth Group recently expanded its data center in Elk River, northwest of the Twin Cities. (Submitted photo: city of Elk River) UnitedHealth recently finished $6.2 million data center expansion Elk River still has room for more data centers, even after the UnitedHealth Group's recent $6.2 million expansion of its center in the northwest Twin Cities suburb. Sherburne County is marketing 10 acres, which aze adjacent to its Elk River government center at 13880 Business Center Drive. Luci Botzek, the deputy administrator for the county, thinks there could be room for two large data centers on the land. The land is in the same azea as the UnitedHealth data center at 14100 Business Center Drive. Last October the health insurer completed a 54,000-squaze-foot addition to the 185,000 square feet it has had on the site since 2008. Minneapolis-based Mortenson Construction built both projects. In the same vicinity, the Target Corp. completed a 161,300-squaze-foot data center on 30 acres in 2007. The Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. constructed the building. Dennis Spalla, director of real estate services at UnitedHealth, said the Minnetonka-based health insurer looked at multiple sites to further increase its data center capacity before deciding that expansion in Elk River was the best option. "From the outset, the city and staff were very knowledgeable and helpful. They understood our goals, and they seem to recognize what a good business needs to be a success," Spalla said in a news release.