Amazon Cloud makes the largest investment in Indiana’s history with an $11b data center.

Federal, state, and corporate officials announced on Thursday that Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud computing division, intends to invest $11 billion to construct a data centre in northern Indiana, will generate at least 1,000 new jobs. 

The project, that is located approximately 15 miles (24 km) west of South Bend near the town of New Carlisle, has been dubbed “the largest capital investment announcement in Indiana’s history” by Republican Governor Eric Holcomb.

The town of New Carlisle, the north central area, and the state of Indiana will surely benefit for years to come from this substantial investment, which “solidifies Indiana’s leadership position in the economy of the future,” according to a news release from Holcomb.

The announcement from AWS and Holcomb’s office lacked a schedule for the data centre site located in St. Joseph County, northern Indiana, which borders Michigan.

However, the news release stated that it will be constructed “over the next decade” at the Indiana Enterprise Centre, which is situated east of New Carlisle, and that it “will be a major employment centre for all of northern Indiana,” according to Carl Baxmeyer, president of the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners.

Computer servers, networking hardware, data storage devices, and “other forms of technology infrastructure used to power cloud computing capabilities, and generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies” will all be included in the AWS data centre, along with other hardware. 

“Will create numerous well-paying job opportunities and tap into the state’s burgeoning tech sector, while contributing significantly to the state’s growing economy,” stated AWS Director of Economic Development Roger Wehner about the Indiana data centre. 

According to the press release, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. has promised to grant sales tax exemptions for data centres “for eligible capital investments over a 50-year term” by the company’s anticipated investment.

The release states that to support the AWS data centre plans, the IEDC has also committed to a range of performance-based tax credits, including up to $20 million in redevelopment tax credits, up to $55 million in Hoosier Business Investment tax credits, and up to $18.3 million in headcount-based tax credits. 

According to the statement, AWS would contribute up to $7 million to help improvements to the road infrastructure along State Road 2, which encircles the company’s proposed data centre.