LANSING – Switch, a Nevada-based data storage center with international appeal, may be finding a place to locate at least a portion of its business on the west side of the state, and it may have help from the Michigan Legislature to do so.

Six bills, three in the Michigan House and three in the Michigan Senate, were introduced Tuesday that would allow certain data centers to be exempt from the sales tax, use tax and property tax under certain conditions.

Those bills are HB 5074, HB 5075, HB 5076, SB 616, SB 617 and SB 618.

Late Thursday, West Michigan Business, on its MLive website, broke the news the company was “poised to take over” the former Steelcase Incorporated pyramid in Gaines Township (Kent County), and on Friday, Rep. Ken Yonker (R-Gaines Township), one of the sponsors of the bills in the House, told MLive “it’s a done deal” with Switch. The legislation, Yonker said, gives the type of tax breaks the state has historically given to manufacturing companies, as well as waives sales taxes on their equipment purchases.

Yonker said the decision by the company would create 1,000 new jobs and a destination for 1,700 business travelers a day. He said he has a “handshake agreement” with executives from Switch, the article notes.

Yonker was not able to be reached by Gongwer News Service on Friday, and some of the other West Michigan bill sponsors – Rep. Robert VerHeulen (R-Walker), Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker (R-Lawton) and Sen. Peter MacGregor (R-Rockford) – did not return calls seeking comment. A message left by Gongwer with a spokesperson at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation was also not returned.

If true, the company’s presence could be huge not only for west Michigan, but the state and the region as well. Switch currently operates in Las Vegas and Tahoe Reno, both in Nevada, and touts a “one state advantage” on its website. It also has a location in Luxembourg, Germany, known as SuperNAP International, which would develop data center facilities worldwide based on the design of the SuperNAP data centers in Nevada.

The international locale is the exclusive licensee outside the United States of the 218 patents and patents pending in data center technologies held by the Switch SuperNAP founder, its website indicates.