Amazon will invest an estimated $7.8 billion by 2030 to expand its data center operations in Ohio, marking the second-biggest private sector company investment in the state, according to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine.
The news comes as Amazon’s Web Services (AWS) division looks to grow its reach in the cloud-computing space, demand for which is expected to grow exponentially with advancements in AI and machine learning. The industry was worth an estimated $480 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $1.7 trillion by 2029, according to Fortune Business Insights. Amazon is currently the second-largest cloud vendor globally in terms of total revenue after Microsoft’s Azure division. Salesforce, Google Cloud and IBM round out the top five.
News of the AWS investment in Ohio follows two similarly large investments already announced this year. In January 2023, the company announced plans to invest $35 billion by 2040 to expand its data centers in Virginia, and in May it shared plans to invest $12.7 billion by 2030 for the same purpose in India.
“This positions Ohio as a critical location for the most discussed technology in the world, artificial intelligence,” said Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted in a statement. “This enormous capital investment further solidifies Ohio as the tech center of the Midwest and positions us for a bright future as cloud computing and artificial intelligence are more integrated into the economy and our everyday lives.”
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The AWS U.S. East Region launched in October 2016, with data centers in Ohio’s Franklin and Licking counties. Since 2015, AWS already has invested $6.3 billion in its Ohio facilities, supporting an average of more than 3,500 full-time equivalent jobs annually. This includes a combination of actual Amazon employees and employees at local vendors that support the Amazon facilities, in sectors including telecommunications, software development, facilities maintenance and electricity generation. Gov. DeWine said that AWS investments and operations have generated over $2 billion in economic benefit to the state to date.
DeWine also said that numerous localities in Central Ohio are under consideration for the new data center campuses but that final site selections will be decided at a later date. The new data centers will contain computer servers, data storage drives, networking equipment and other forms of technology infrastructure used to power cloud computing. JP Nauseef, President and CEO of JobsOhio, predicted that the new investment will add approximately 230 direct new jobs and an estimated 1,000 support jobs in the state.
“This additional investment will bring new, well-paying jobs and will continue to boost the state’s gross domestic product each year,” added Roger Wehner, Director of Economic Development at AWS in a statement. “We are excited to continue our partnership with the state of Ohio and deliver new workforce development and educational programs that support the next generation of talent by emphasizing collaborative, long-term public and private partnerships across the state.”
