LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — With construction underway at a new data center off North Cole Street, some in the community still have questions about what the project means for the region’s future.
Local business leaders gathered Friday morning at the Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce’s Wake, Rattle and Roll event to hear from the executive vice president of Regional Growth Partnership Northwest Ohio about the impact of data centers and how they are integrated into communities.
Data centers provide the storage capacity for digital information used every day, including corporate records, multimedia content and user data for social media platforms.
Concerns from residents and stakeholders have largely focused on how the facility could affect local resources and the environment. Officials say those issues are addressed early in the planning process through detailed studies and agreements with local utilities.
Gary Thompson, executive vice president of Regional Growth Partnership Northwest Ohio, said infrastructure demands are carefully evaluated before a site is selected.
"You're not going to lose all your electric power because they do a detailed load study with the electric utility to make sure there's power available on the grid to feed the data center. You're not going to lose all your water because they enter into an agreement with the municipal water system, or whatever water system they're using, to make sure they can provide the kinds of infrastructure that they need without imposing upon residents, schools, hospitals and all those other kinds of things."
Thompson added that projects like the data center are helping shift the Midwest’s identity.
He said data centers are bringing the region into the technology age and positioning it as a hub for high-tech manufacturing, not just traditional manufacturing.
