The Allen County board of commissioners, joined by county economic development experts, met Thursday with representatives of technology giant Microsoft to discuss the construction of a data center that has been proposed in Perry Township.
J Swygart | The Lima News
LIMA — Representatives from Microsoft, a technology corporation identified last month as the company behind a planned data center in Perry Township, met Thursday morning with the Allen County commissioners in what was described by all parties as a “meet-and-greet” gathering in anticipation of a public open house later Thursday.
Commissioners Beth Seibert, Cory Noonan and Brian Winegardner were joined by economic development officials Cindy Leis, president and chief executive officer of the Allen Economic Development Group, and Dave Stratton, president and CEO of Greater Lima Region Inc., in welcoming three Microsoft representatives to Lima.
After months of speculation and rumors, it was revealed last month that Microsoft is exploring the construction of a data center in Perry Township. The proposed facility would be located on 350 acres along state Route 65, between Breese and Hume roads.
The morning session served as a precursor for a public open house planned for later in the evening. The meeting will take place Thursday from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the cafetorium at Perry Elementary School, 2765 E. Breese Road, Lima.
At a June public meeting, several township residents voiced concerns over how they believed a data center would negatively impact their quality of life. Two members of the township zoning board submitted letters of resignation prior to that meeting.
Perry schools Superintendent Kelly Schooler during that same meeting pointed to the benefits the school district could reap with the township’s tax base enlarged by the project.
The commissioners on Thursday stressed that the county’s role in the development of a data center is minimal.
“We really don’t have a role,” Seibert said, “other than a member of our board — it’s me — sits on the board of Allen Economic Development Group. All we’ve told AEDG is not to tell us any particulars about a project if we’re not allowed to talk publicly about it. The general public thinks we know everything. We don’t.”
Information-sharing was the impetus behind Thursday’s meeting.
“We want development that’s good for the county,” Noonan said. “We appreciate you (Microsoft representatives) coming in to talk with us. We need to understand this a little better, but we are excited.”
Microsoft Community Affairs Specialist Matthew Destefano said the proposed project consists of multiple warehouses filled with computers. Such centers are increasingly necessary as innovations in technology create the need for greater storage capacity for multiple forms of data, he said.
Winegardner asked how the company perceives its role in Allen County, and Destefano said Microsoft will strive to be a good community partner financially, socially and environmentally “every day, every month, every year for as long as we’re here.”
He said the past few weeks have yielded “steps in the right direction” as the company inches closer to securing the Perry Township site. Township officials recently approved a measure that allows facilities such as the data center to be constructed.
“Your project represents a new type of business in our county and diversifies our jobs base,” Seibert said.
Stratton added, “We are a manufacturing community, and we (local economic development officials) have discerned that the pros of this project far outweigh the cons.”
“We appreciate you coming in to talk to us,” Noonan concluded. “We needed to understand all this.”
