NEW ALBANY, Ohio — New Albany City Council passed a resolution Tuesday night that involves Amazon Web Services investing $3.5 billion in the form of building new data centers in the city.
According to a release from the city, the new data centers will support computer services, networking equipment and AWS technology which helps people connect online.
AWS plans to use 85 of the 438 acres it purchased to build the data centers by 2030.
In 2015, the technology company invested $300 million in a 150,000-square-foot facility on a 68-acre site. Four years later, AWS announced plans to expand to 340,000 square feet of data center facilities. With the latest announcement, the total investment is now at $5.6 million.
The project is expected to employ 105 full-time workers. By 2031, New Albany is expected to receive $1.1 million each year.
“AWS has been a strong corporate citizen in Central Ohio since arriving here almost a decade ago and has been a major catalyst in the growth of the Silicon Heartland,” said New Albany Mayor Sloan Spalding. “Our community stands poised to support AWS in addressing the global surge in cloud computing needs. New Albany is dedicated to fostering economic growth and creating a business-friendly environment for the benefit of our citizens and broader community. Today’s announcement is a testament to this vision and a tribute to the hard work of our economic development team and community partners.”
City leaders say AWS's data center projects in central Ohio are the second-largest private-sector corporate investment in the state's history.
“We are proud to reinforce our long-term commitment to the State of Ohio with plans to invest an additional $3.5 billion in New Albany by 2030,” said Roger Wehner, Director of Economic Development, AWS. “Since 2015, AWS has invested more than $6.3 billion in Ohio while supporting thousands of local jobs. Our newest investment in New Albany builds on our rich partnership with the community and the state, and our ongoing investment will help continue to foster innovation, advance the next generation of local technology leaders, and expand on the tremendous partnerships we have across The Buckeye State.”
AWS launched its first data centers in Ohio and currently operates data center campuses in Franklin and Licking counties.