(The Center Square) – Data centers could support nearly 3,000 jobs each year across Northwest Indiana, a new study says.
Most of those jobs would go to local contractors, utilities and other businesses that serve the sites, not the data centers themselves.
The study explored the potential impact of a hypothetical $10 billion, 1-gigawatt data center campus.
Justin Ross, an Indiana University Bloomington economics professor, and Saurav Roychoudhury, a Capital University finance and economics professor, wrote the report.
They used federal economic data to study how the project could impact Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, Newton, Pulaski and Starke counties.
Their model said a three-year build would create about $6.7 billion in regional economic output and $1.34 billion in earnings. Also, it would support 20,133 job-years. A job-year means one job lasting one year.
When open, the campus would support an estimated $845.8 million in regional economic output and 2,986 jobs annually. Only 300 of those people would be full-time data center workers. The rest would work in jobs that support the data center.
“Data centers have a six-layer economic ecosystem for contributing to the Northwest region that only just starts with construction and operations of the data center,” Ross said in a statement.
Those six areas include construction and skilled trades, operations and maintenance, energy, workforce training, professional services and the broader local economy.
Electricity would have the biggest impact. The study says data centers would spend $342 million a year on local electricity. That spending would create $497.8 million in economic activity and support 1,116 jobs, according to the report.
Maintenance and on-site systems services would generate another $330.1 million and support 1,815 jobs.
Workers would also spend money on housing, stores, health care and other local services. The study says that spending would add $154.8 million a year to the local economy.
Roychoudhury said Northwest Indiana already has many of the businesses needed to do that work.
The region already has steel, electrical equipment, construction, transportation, storage, and equipment repair businesses. The report says those companies could work with data centers without giving up their other customers.
The report sees different opportunities for each county.
Lake County could provide internet connections, cybersecurity, and operating services. Porter County could help with equipment, transportation, and storage.
LaPorte County has a Microsoft data center campus planned. Amazon has also announced a project in Jasper County. The report says Newton and Pulaski counties could benefit from better internet service and smaller tech businesses. Starke County could train workers for jobs on projects across the region.
“It tells us which industries our counties should be preparing for, which local firms could pivot to serve this market, and where workforce investments need to be made,” Northwest Indiana Forum president and CEO Heather Ennis said in a statement.
The projected benefits aren’t guaranteed.
The study says only $682 million of the project’s $5.5 billion in spending on servers, computer chips and networking equipment would stay in Northwest Indiana.
The report says buying expensive equipment doesn’t mean companies will make it locally. Local firms would still need to qualify for the work and win contracts.
The study also doesn’t measure environmental costs, the impact on utility rates, land-use issues, and other public costs.
The authors say local leaders should track contracts, pay, and where workers live to learn how much economic benefit stays in Northwest Indiana.
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