Meet the tech companies investing billions in central Ohio
JOHNSTOWN, Ohio (WCMH) – Data center corporation Cologix announced in November that it will invest more than $7 billion into its newly acquired land in Johnstown, adding to the billion dollar digital industry reshaping central Ohio.
With Cologix’s announcement, tech investments into central Ohio have reached around $54 billion in new developments across seven companies. NBC4 looked into which companies are building central Ohio’s Silicon Heartland.
Newest investments: Cologix and Amazon Web Services
Cologix announced on Nov. 20 that it acquired approximately 154 acres to build eight AI-ready data centers beginning in 2025. Cologix CEO Laura Ortman said the new campus is a continued investment into central Ohio for the company, as Cologix operates four data centers total around Columbus.
Once built, the 2 million-square-foot campus will be able to handle 800 megawatts of data services. Cologix said it will invest more than $7 billion into the project.
Also approved on Nov. 20, Amazon Data Services entered an agreement with the city of Sunbury to construct a 450,000-square-foot data center. According to Amazon’s application to the city, the center would bring 50 new jobs over two years.
The application listed the total investment at $2 billion. According to city documents, construction is scheduled to begin in January 2028 and be completed in December 2034.
Largest investments: Intel and Amazon
Intel has promised a $28 billion investment into New Albany for its promised computer chip factory. The company’s 2022 announcement contributed heavily to the tech boom in central Ohio, with its plant originally scheduled to be finished between 2026 and 2027, a date that has since been delayed.
Although Intel and the state of Ohio have both contributed to the project, Intel is still awaiting $8.5 billion in promised CHIPS Act funding. The delay was accompanied by internal issues including billions of dollars in losses and thousands of layoffs. The company is urging President Joe Biden to deliver before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, as the latter has spoken negatively of the CHIPS Act.
Amazon is the second-largest investor in the area, pledging $7.8 billion across projects. On top of Wednesday’s $2 billion investment into Sunbury, Amazon has four other data centers planned or built in central Ohio. According to a news release from Sunbury, Amazon has already invested $10.3 billion into Ohio.
All billion-dollar central Ohio investments
On top of Amazon, Intel and Cologix, four other companies plan to expand tech centers in central Ohio.
Google has invested more than $5 billion in Ohio since 2019, including a $2.3 billion investment into existing data centers announced in June. The new Sunbury project joins preexisting operations in New Albany, Columbus and Lancaster.
Vantage Data Centers, another data center campus provider, broke ground on a $2 billion project in New Albany on Oct. 25. Dubbed OH1 Campus, it is Vantage’s first venture into the Midwest. OH1 Campus is under construction on a 70-acre plot, with plans to provide 192 megawatts of IT capacity, according to a press release. Vantage said the first building is planned to open in late 2025.
Microsoft purchased more than 700 acres in Licking County between June 2023 and May 2024, when it announced plans to build data centers in the area. The tech giant announced an initial $1 billion investment on Oct. 28 to build three new campuses, with one each in New Albany, Heath and Hebron.
DBT Data has also invested under the localized name DBT Data New Albany, with a $1 billion project at New Albany International Business Park. The August 2022 announcement marked the Washington D.C.-based company’s first investment in the state. According to a press release from the New Albany Company, the project will build up to 1 million feet of power shell facilities.
Aside from these billion-dollar projects, central Ohio is anticipating data center projects in the millions. Among them are Edged Energy’s $250 million data center in New Albany and Aligned Data Center’s $13.9 million purchase of land parcels in Pataskala. Aligned Data has also broken ground on a plant in Sandusky in northeastern Ohio.