What seemed like a perfect location for a data center — a former limestone mine with cool air, protective rock walls, and access to “abundant electricity and fiber-optic cables” — lacked one critical advantage: tax incentives, found the firm that was trying to market the space, The Toledo Blade reports. Ora Reynolds, president and chief executive officer of Hunt Midwest Enterprises, Inc., learned that financial incentives were “absolutely crucial” as companies passed over the SubTropolis caves, some refusing even to look at the space, according to The Blade. An Associated Press “analysis of state revenue and economic-development records” shows “government officials extended nearly $1.5 billion in tax incentives to hundreds of data-center projects nationwide” over the past decade, according to the article. Vadata Inc., an Amazon subsidiary, “is investing about $1.1 billion to build three data centers” in the Columbus area (see our June 1, 2015 blog post) after receiving $81 million in state and nearly $20 million in local incentives. Some local officials have mixed views on offering the incentives, but Adam Kramer, vice president of government and public affairs for data center developer Switch, “calls the company’s data centers ‘an economic magnet’ that attracts other businesses.” SubTropolis got its first data center with help from “a projected $15.5 million in sales, income and property tax breaks.” For more, read the full article.
Data centers lured to states by $1.5B in tax breaks
