Microsoft expands in Ohio with $420 million New Albany Data Center

Microsoft continues its investment in Ohio, announcing plans to build a $420 million data center in New Albany. This news bolsters the state’s role in the tech giant’s growing cloud computing infrastructure and reinforces Ohio’s status as a technology and data hub. 

The New Albany City Council approved on Oct. 1 a resolution for Microsoft to proceed with the construction of a new data center at the New Albany International Business Park. The development will span approximately 197 acres along Beech Road, which has become a hub of high-tech investment and development. 

The data center, part of Microsoft’s larger strategy to meet growing cloud demand, will bring new tech and construction jobs to Central Ohio. 

The Microsoft news is just the latest as Ohio continues to position itself as a hub of tech and data center activity. AWS, Google, Meta and Kansas-based QTS Data Centers are other tech companies that have invested billions of dollars into Ohio data center operations. 

The Data Center Coalition put out a Data Center Impact Study highlighting the industry’s impact in Ohio: 

• The data industry’s total annual employment in Ohio increased 23% from 50,330 jobs in 2017 to 61,740 jobs in 2021 

• The industry’s total annual labor income in Ohio increased 47% from $3 billion in 2017 to $4.4 billion in 2021 

• Ohio’s data center industry directly and indirectly generated $2.6 billion in total state and local tax revenues in Ohio from 2017 to 2021 

• In Ohio, leading hyperscalers have invested in several solar and wind farms capable of generating millions of megawatt hours of clean energy each year 

• A leading hyperscaler trained 1,870 small business owners in Ohio through more than 75 digital skills workshops