Editing Council Bluffs, Iowa (section)

==Economy==
The liberalization of Iowa gambling laws was followed by the opening of The Bluffs Run Greyhound Park in 1986. By 2005, Council Bluffs was the 19th largest casino market in the United States, with revenue equaling nearly $434 million.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}} Casinos include [[Ameristar Casino Council Bluffs]], [[Harrah's Council Bluffs]], and the [[Horseshoe Council Bluffs]].

Council Bluffs industry includes "frozen foods, robotics, dairy products, plastics, railroading, electrical products, and pork and beef packaging" per the city's website.<ref>{{cite web|title=Our City|url=http://www.councilbluffs-ia.gov/index.aspx?nid=379|publisher=Council Bluffs City Hall|access-date=July 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811010124/http://www.councilbluffs-ia.gov/index.aspx?nid=379|archive-date=August 11, 2014}}</ref> American Games (a manufacturer of lottery gaming products), Barton Solvents, [[Con-Agra]], [[Grundorf]], Katelman Foundry, Omaha Standard Palfinger (a truck body manufacturer established in 1926), Red Giant Oil, and [[Tyson Foods]] have manufacturing plants in the city.

Griffin Pipe Products, established in 1921, closed its plant employing about 250 people in March 2014, when it was bought by U.S. Pipe and Foundry, based in Birmingham, Alabama.<ref name=ketv>{{cite news|last1=Earl|first1=David|title=Alabama company to close Griffin Pipe plant|url=http://www.ketv.com/news/alabama-company-to-close-griffin-pipe-plant/24790362#!bjjaBs|access-date=July 21, 2014|publisher=KETV7 News|date=March 4, 2014}}</ref> Griffin Wheels, a part of American Steel Foundries, was one of the largest US manufacturers of iron railroad-car wheels until it switched to pipes in the 1960s.<ref name=world>{{cite news|last1=Brownlee|first1=Mike|title=News of Griffin Pipe closure 'devastating' |url=http://www.omaha.com/money/news-of-griffin-pipe-closure-devastating/article_01bd3574-00be-5541-82f3-2787c2b35543.html|access-date=July 22, 2014|work=Omaha.com |publisher=World-Herald News Service|date=March 5, 2014}}</ref>

[[Mid-American Energy]] built a new coal-fired plant in 2007; the billion dollar investment was the single largest private investment in Iowa's history up until then.<ref name=audit>{{cite web|title=City of Council Bluffs Independent Auditor's Report June 30, 2007|url=http://www.councilbluffs-ia.gov/archive.aspx?amid=&type=&adid=51|publisher=Council Bluffs City Hall|access-date=July 22, 2014|page=16|date=March 3, 2008}}</ref>

In 2007, [[Google]] began construction of a [[server farm]] on the former site of the Council Bluffs [[drive-in theater]] on Veterans Memorial Highway. This first phase, completed in 2009, was to create "200 high quality jobs".<ref name=audit /> The second Google campus, on Bunge Avenue, had an open house in October 2013, employing 50 people who are "installing and upgrading Google servers and providing maintenance on equipment".<ref name=nonpareil>{{cite news|last1=Brownlee|first1=Mike|title=Google shows off new Council Bluffs data center at grand opening|url=http://www.nonpareilonline.com/news/local/google-shows-off-new-council-bluffs-data-center-at-grand/article_681daef8-2c94-11e3-937f-0019bb2963f4.html|access-date=July 22, 2014|work=The Daily Nonpareil|date=October 3, 2013}}</ref> In March 2014, a third phase, the Southlands expansion, was announced, creating 35 additional jobs and bringing Google's investment up to $1.5 billion, the largest private investment in Iowa's history to date.<ref name=gazette>{{cite news|last1=Ford|first1=George|title=Google plans to double size of Council Bluffs data center expansion|url=http://thegazette.com/2013/04/23/google-plans-to-double-size-of-council-bluffs-data-center-expansion/|access-date=July 22, 2014|work=The Gazette|date=March 28, 2014}}</ref> The state increased its [[tax abatement]] of sales and use tax for Google from $9.6 million to $16.8 million.<ref name=gazette /> {{As of|July 2014}} Google stated it created 130 jobs<ref name=google>{{cite web|title=Google data centers, Council Bluffs, Iowa|url=https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/council-bluffs/|date=n.d.|access-date=July 22, 2014}}</ref> and as of June 2016 "over 300 jobs" on site.<ref name=google2>{{cite web|title=Google data centers, Council Bluffs, Iowa|url=https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/council-bluffs/|date=n.d.|access-date=June 15, 2016}}</ref> In particular, the server farms are backing the entire "us-central1" region of the Google Cloud Platform.<ref>{{cite news|title=Google Cloud Platform opens its Oregon region to better serve the West Coast|url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/20/google-cloud-platform-opens-its-oregon-region-to-better-serve-the-west-coast|work=Tech Crunch|date=July 20, 2016}}</ref>