$10 Billion and Counting: Amazon Web Services Cements Ohio’s Role as Tech Hub

The Challenge

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data centers are crucial to America’s economic superiority. They drive innovation, support high-tech industries, enhance productivity across sectors, and enable the analysis and management of vast data that’s essential for global competitiveness. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is at the forefront of new technologies, and the company needed to determine the ideal location for building and growing its critical infrastructure.

The Solution

AWS pledged to invest an estimated $10 billion in additional funding to expand its data center infrastructure across greater Ohio, creating hundreds of new, high-paying jobs by the end of 2030. The new investment builds on the $7.8 billion announced by AWS in 2023 (which was in addition to the more than $6 billion already invested through 2022), bringing the company’s total investment in Ohio to more than $23 billion by the end of 2030. This represents the second-largest planned investment by a single private sector company in the state’s history.

Key factors in choosing Ohio included:

• A highly trained workforce—including many STEM professionals with expertise in AI, cybersecurity, IoT, semiconductors, analytics, and more—produced by Ohio’s many universities and trade schools
• Robust, reliable access to power and water, and minimal natural disaster risk
• Ohio’s business-friendly tax laws
• The strong relationships with state and local organizations and community leaders that reduce friction, allowing site selection and construction to occur smoothly, quickly, and efficiently

The Results

• Jobs Created: Hundreds of new jobs by the end of 2030
• Total Investment: $10 billion
• Economic Impact: Since opening its first Ohio data center in 2016, AWS has made substantial contributions to the state’s economy. The company estimates it has invested $10.3 billion in Ohio and contributed an estimated $3.8 billion in total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the state between 2015 and 2023. AWS’s investments support thousands of new jobs in high-demand sectors like telecommunications, software development, facilities maintenance, and electricity generation within the cloud infrastructure supply chain.
• Strategic Advantage: Not only can Amazon Web Services build on its existing commitment to Ohio and the many advantages the state provides, AWS can lean heavily on its workforce development and educational programs that equip Ohio’s next generation of tech talent through strong public and private partnerships.

"Today, we reaffirm our long-term commitment to Ohio with plans to invest an additional $10 billion to expand our data center infrastructure in greater Ohio to drive innovation in AI for customers. Since 2015, AWS has invested more than $10.3 billion in the state, and currently supports more than 4,760 jobs annually. This expanded investment is expected to create new, well-paying jobs, boost Ohio's GDP, and further cement our partnership with the state. We are also proud to continue expanding the reach of workforce development and educational programs that equip Ohio’s next generation of tech talent through strong public and private partnerships."

AWS Vice President of Economic Development Roger Wehner