We Must Responsibly Allow Data Centers To Support Innovation | Opinion
Summary
Ron Kitchens argues that St. Louis should support data center development while addressing community concerns about energy costs and water use. He says high-capacity computing could help the region build on its existing technology and research sectors, and cites local projects and industry estimates to make the case.Key Facts
- The article says technology companies are on track to spend about $700 billion on data center infrastructure in 2026.
- It cites an estimate that the data center industry supports 5.5 million U.S. jobs.
- The article says one data center project can support nearly 10,000 construction jobs and generate $2.4 billion in regional economic output.
- The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency opened its $1.7 billion NGA West campus in north St. Louis in 2025, according to the article.
- The article says the St. Louis region's geospatial economy supports an estimated 27,000 jobs across Missouri and Illinois.
- A coalition that includes Amazon Web Services, Google, NVIDIA and World Wide Technology launched the Spirit of St. Louis AI Innovation Center, which the article says will provide high-performance computing resources.
- The author argues that limited local computing capacity could cause businesses and innovation activity to move to other cities.
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