Published March 16, 2026, in the St. Louis Business Journal.
Across America right now, something remarkable is happening.
The infrastructure of the next economy is being built at extraordinary speed. Billions of dollars are being invested in facilities that power artificial intelligence, cloud computing, digital commerce, and the modern global economy.
The communities attracting that investment are not guessing about the future. They are building it, which raises an important question for St. Louis: Will we compete for the infrastructure of the digital economy, or will we watch other cities build it?
For years I have written about the war for jobs.
It is not fought with armies. It is fought with strategy, infrastructure, talent, and courage. Cities and regions compete every day for investment, innovation, and opportunity. Some communities lean into that competition; others hesitate, and then watch opportunity move somewhere else.
And every year, one lesson becomes clearer.
In the war for jobs, the communities that build the infrastructure of the future win.
In the 19th century that infrastructure was railroads. In the 20th century it was highways, ports, and airports.
In the 21st century, it is digital infrastructure.
Data centers power cloud computing, artificial intelligence, financial systems, logistics networks, and nearly every digital service we use every day. They are, quite literally, the factories of the digital economy.
The regions across the country that are growing already understand this.
Northern Virginia now hosts hundreds of data centers, the largest concentration anywhere in the world. The region processes roughly 70 percent of the world’s internet traffic.
Columbus, Ohio, has also leaned into the opportunity, attracting dozens of facilities and positioning itself as one of the fastest-growing digital infrastructure hubs in America.
These communities did not stumble into this success. They made a decision to compete.
St. Louis now has an opportunity to do the same.
Our region has many of the assets companies look for when deciding where to build digital infrastructure. Ameren operates one of the most reliable power systems in the Midwest. Fiber networks run directly through the region. Our research universities produce strong engineering and technology talent. And the new National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency campus is helping anchor one of the most important geospatial technology ecosystems in the country.
These advantages position St. Louis well. Yet whenever new opportunity emerges, myths tend to follow.
One common concern is water usage. That concern largely reflects older technology. Many modern facilities now use air-cooled systems requiring little or no water, while others rely on closed-loop cooling systems that dramatically reduce consumption.
Think about how technology evolves. When was the last time you added water to your car’s radiator? Decades ago, it was routine. Today most vehicles run for years without anyone touching the cooling system.
The same technological progress is happening in data center design.
Another misconception is that residents will subsidize electricity costs. In reality, large energy users typically pay for the transmission upgrades required to serve them and sign long-term contracts that help utilities plan infrastructure more efficiently.
Noise and land use concerns are also manageable through modern design standards. Communities such as Fairfax County, Virginia — which hosts thousands of data centers — use setbacks, screening, and sound mitigation requirements to ensure facilities coexist with surrounding development.
But perhaps the biggest myth is that data centers offer limited economic value.
The reality is quite different.
Construction of a modern data center creates thousands of high-skill trade jobs, providing enormous opportunities for electricians, pipefitters, operating engineers, and other skilled workers. Once operational, these facilities employ hundreds of people in highly technical roles that often pay twice the average wage in many communities.
Many of these positions can be learned through short technical training programs at community colleges and workforce centers, creating direct pathways into high-paying careers.
At the same time, today’s hyperscale data centers often cost billions of dollars to build. That level of investment dramatically expands the tax base for cities, counties, and school districts.
Consider Loudoun County, Virginia. Home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers, the county received more than $660 million in local tax revenue from data centers in a single year, accounting for nearly half of its property tax base.
The fiscal impact can be transformational.
In my career, this may be one of the first moments I have seen business leaders, technology companies, and organized labor aligned behind the same economic development strategy.
That kind of alignment is rare. When it appears, smart regions pay attention.
The real question facing St. Louis is not whether data centers will be built.
They will be.
The question is where they will be built and who will get the jobs and new tax base.
Communities across the country are competing aggressively for this investment because they understand what it represents. It is not simply a building filled with servers. It is the backbone of the modern economy.
There are moments in the life of every city when opportunity arrives quietly. It does not come with a parade or a ribbon cutting. It arrives as a decision point.
Do we lean into the future, or do we let it pass us by?
This may be one of those moments for St. Louis.
Railroads built Chicago. Ports built Houston. Airports helped transform Atlanta.
Today, digital infrastructure is shaping the next generation of economic growth.
The war for jobs is real.
And the communities that win are the ones willing to build the infrastructure of the future.
St. Louis has the assets. We have the talent. And we have the opportunity.
Now the question is simple: Will we compete, or will we watch someone else win?
Always Forward.
Ron Kitchens is the Managing Partner of Greater St. Louis, Inc.