(The Center Square) – One of the nation’s biggest companies plans to significantly increase its presence in Indiana by making the largest one-time economic development in the state’s history, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Thursday.
Amazon Web Services anticipates building a data center campus in New Carlisle, about 10 miles west of South Bend in northern Indiana. The $11 billion project is expected to create at least 1,000 new jobs.
The data centers will offer both public- and private-sector entities servers, data storage, networking, cloud storage and artificial intelligence capabilities.
According to an Amazon statement, the company has created 26,000 full- and part-time jobs in Indiana, invested more than $21 billion in the state since 2010 and contributed nearly $20 billion to Indiana’s gross domestic product over the same time.
“Amazon has long been an important economic partner in Indiana, and we are excited to welcome AWS,” Holcomb said. “This significant investment solidifies Indiana’s leadership position in the economy of the future and will undoubtedly have a positive ripple effect on the town of New Carlisle, the north central region and the state of Indiana for years to come.”
Roger Wehner, the director of economic development for AWS, said the data center campus will enable Amazon to “tap into the state’s burgeoning tech sector” and further increase the company’s economic impact on the state.
“This investment will include our continuing commitment to fostering workforce development and educational initiatives in areas where we operate, and we look forward to helping nurture the next generation of talent in the Hoosier State,” Wehner said.
To bolster the infrastructure surrounding the campus, Amazon said it would spend up to $7 million to improve Indiana State Road 2.
The governor’s announcement said the deal is contingent on AWS securing long-term energy service.
Amazon’s project was one of two billion-dollar projects announced by Holcomb on Thursday. Later in the day, the governor revealed that Toyota will spend $1.4 billion to build an electric vehicle at the company’s plant in Princeton. Adding the new vehicle to the same plant that builds minivans and sports utility vehicles is expected to result in 340 new jobs at the southwestern Indiana plant by the end of next year. It employs more than 7,500 across the region.
Both projects are expected to receive incentives from the Indiana Economic Development Corp. AWS is set to receive tax exemptions for capital investments over a 50-year term. Indiana officials are also offering up to $18.3 million in employment-based tax credits, $5 million for training, $55 million in Hoosier Business Investment tax credits and up to $20 million in redevelopment credits.
Toyota has been approved for $5 million in incentive-based tax credits and up to $1 million in “structured performance payments” once the company reaches $632 million in investments.
