As Facebook's tech staff get ready to move first servers into the company's newly completed data center in North Carolina, construction crews are preparing break ground on a second, identical building at the property.

Facebook data center manager George Henry said the second building on the company's Rutherford County campus, near Forest City, will "mirror" the first building ÔÇô a construction project that started in November 2010 and had recently come to an end.

Staying in line with what has become a custom for Facebook, Henry focused on jobs the project will create for the area. "We believe the expanding operations and continued construction activities will have a positive impact on Rutherford County's economy."

With every major build Facebook has announced, it has touted its economic-development value for the surrounding community. The company said so when it announced construction of the first building in Rutherford and when it announced kick-off of construction of each of the two phases of another data center campus in Prineville, Oregon.

North Carolina governor Bev Perdue welcomed Tuesday's announcement, also jumping on the job-creation bandwagon. "Creating jobs is my top priority," she said. "Facebook's additional expansion into North Carolina means more high-tech jobs and investment in Rutherford County."

More than 1,500 people have worked at Facebook's North Carolina campus so far, and the company says announcement of continued construction would ensure similar activity would continue for at least another year.

The thousand-plus people that will work on the second building have about 300m new Facebook users to thank for their employment there. The company said when it first announced that it would build a data center in Rutherford County, it had 500m users. That number has now bypassed the 800m mark.