Apple to Expand Sacramento Campus, Could Offer 1,450 New Jobs

As Apple continues development of its new “spaceship” campus in Cupertino, it looks like the company is working on another campus nearby.

In fact, the company is reportedly investing at least $13 million in its Elk Grove campus, which currently employees around 2,500 staff, but could certainly begin to employ more as time goes on and development of the campus continues.

Image: Roberto Verzo | Flickr

According to city officials, the major expansion at the campus could mean several thousand new jobs in Elk Grove, which is located right next to Sacramento. As evidence for the new jobs, in fact, economic development director for Elk Grove, Darren Doan, says that Apple is adding an additional 1,450 parking spaces to the campus, and is also working with the transportation department of the city to create a new bus service for the employees that work there.

The work will also include the building of things like a massage room, yoga studio, and exercise room.

“What this expansion says about Elk Grove as a marketplace or other companies is huge; the largest company in the world is essentially doubling down on Elk Grove,” said Doan in an interview with CBS. “We anticipate several thousand jobs. Which is huge. “Apple is already our first largest private employer. One of the largest private employers in the region.”

At one point, the Sacramento campus was used only for manufacturing, however it is evolved into the warehousing and logistics center that it is today. Reports indicate that the goings on of the campus include iPhone repairs as well as a call center.

A lot of the work that is happening on the new campus includes employee facilities, such as medical and dental clinics, things that reports note are often used as a way to recruit staff and retain them after they’re recruited.

The city has also mentioned that the site has enough energy to be able to support a massive data center, however Apple hasn’t given any indication that it plans on building a data center at the Elk Grove campus.

Some suggest that the expansion of the campus is an indication of what’s to come in Sacramento, which could be one of the next major tech hubs in California. The idea is that the investment by Apple into the area could show other major tech companies that the Sacramento Valley is a good place for them to do business.

“These companies are overpaying for people, they’re overpaying for real estate,” said Barry Broome, a member of the Greater Sacramento Area Economic Council, also in an interview with CBS. “The residents there have to suffer through congestion and here we are in our communities like Elk Grove that bend over backwards for businesses.”

Despite the fact that residents of these areas are willing to bend over backwards to lure in new companies, Broome says that there is still a lot of work to do.

“We’re affordable, but we are talented, too,” continued Broome. “The big thing we have to get through is to convince these markets is that we have talent and that our talent base is strong enough to seriously consider in the future.”

Apple itself has been operating in the area since as far back is 1992, and has retained a workforce there since, even growing that workforce at times. This, however, will be the largest expansion at the site so far. While Apple leases many buildings around the world, it owns the space at Elk Grove, further highlighting the fact that it intends on staying there in the near future.

The expansion also highlights the fact that Apple’s own expansion shows no sign of slowing. The company seems to have a long future ahead of it, with development of new and exciting products underway. Apple recently entered a new market with the Apple Watch, and rumors about the company developing a so-called Apple Car have also been gaining steam, a move that would be very expensive for Apple, but could propel the company to new heights if done well. It’s also a move that will require a lot of expansion from Apple, especially if it wants to manufacture the Apple car itself.

Only time will tell how much Apple grows, but in the meantime it’s safe to say that Apple isn’t going anywhere.