Dive Brief:

• Google will inject $1.7 billion into its three Ohio data center campuses in Columbus, Lancaster and New Albany, according to a company press release shared with Construction Dive.
• The new funding builds on Google’s more than $2 billion already invested in the state since breaking ground on its first Ohio data center in New Albany in 2019. 
• “This adds to the list of tech companies that are looking here to grow their operations,” said Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted. “Ohio is establishing itself as a premier destination for technology investment, and it further strengthens our case that Ohio is becoming the tech capital of the Midwest.”

Dive Insight:

The tech giant recently completed its Columbus data center project, one of two new facilities in Ohio in addition to its New Albany site, according to the company. Google opened its Columbus cloud region in order to meet growing demand from businesses and public sector organizations in the Midwest and across North America. 

Yet Google isn’t the only company pouring massive investments into Ohio’s data center industry, said Ohio Rep. Troy Balderson.

“With each and every company that decides to expand and invest here in Ohio, it is clear that we are witnessing the creation of the Silicon Heartland,” said Balderson in the release. “Companies like Google understand that Ohio is open for business.”

Major data center operators and hyperscalers continue to see value in Ohio’s cities, such as Columbus, New Albany, Hilliard and Dublin, according to a report from Dallas-based real estate services firm CBRE. That’s due to the region’s ample land and water supply, low natural disaster risk and tax incentives.

For instance, Amazon plans to invest about $7.8 billion in central Ohio by the end of 2029 to expand its data center operations. That commitment represents the second largest single private sector company investment in Ohio’s history, only behind Intel’s $20 billion investment in January 2022 to build out its semiconductor project in Licking County, east of Columbus.

Data center infrastructure

Google’s move to bolster its data center sites in New Albany, Columbus and Lancaster follows its investment in technical infrastructure elsewhere in the country. 

The tech giant announced earlier in August a $350 million investment to expand its Council Bluffs data center campus in Iowa. The Council Bluffs data center ranks as one of Google’s largest facilities and helps power popular digital services like Google Cloud, Workspace, Search and Maps.