This week, Amazon announced plans to invest $10 billion to construct a new, state-of-the-art data center campus in Montgomery County, Missouri. The project is expected to create over 400 full-time data center jobs, thousands of construction jobs, and over $7 million in community contributions. Montgomery County estimates this investment will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new property tax revenue over the next 25 years.
“Today’s announcement represents more than a major investment in Missouri’s future – it represents new opportunities for Montgomery County and the surrounding region,” said Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe. “Projects like this create lasting benefits for local communities by supporting critical infrastructure improvements, generating new tax revenue for schools and public services, and strengthening the foundation for future economic growth.”
The project comes one month after Google’s announcement that it is investing $15 billion in infrastructure in Missouri, including a new data center in New Florence, also in Montgomery County.
Together, the two projects represent a total investment of $25 billion in Missouri, a number transformational to the state and the regional economy. Investment like this, Ron Kitchens wrote in a recent op-ed, is “capable of materially changing the trajectory of local government revenues, school funding capacity, infrastructure modernization, and regional competitiveness.”
Just as in Montgomery County, St. Louis has an opportunity to harness data center investment through vision and strategy, ensuring these projects benefit the communities they’re serving.
“Smart communities negotiate from strength,” Kitchens wrote. “They demand long term partnerships, workforce investments, energy innovation, educational collaboration, and community alignment. The best projects should strengthen regions beyond construction jobs alone.”