An excerpt as published in the Frederick Business Quarterly Spring 2024 edition.
Rowan Digital Infrastructure Frederick Data Center
An October 2023 Maryland Tech Council study says that the proposed data center campus in Frederick County would provide $41 million in local tax revenue annually and estimates the creation of 48,000 temporary jobs during 15 years of construction and almost 2,000 permanent jobs once the campus is up and running.
Rowan Digital Infrastructure last fall announced plans for the construction of an 800,000 square foot green data center built on 151 acres of the Quantum Loophole campus, creating the Frederick Clean Cloud Community. In January, the county’s Planning Commission unanimously approved Rowan’s site application, and construction is expected to begin this spring.
“This is really what is driving our modern economy. The industry continues to grow,” Rowan’s Chief Commercial Officer Charley Daitch told Frederick Business Quarterly during a recent interview. “We are trying to find responsible ways to grow the industry here.”
Rowan estimates that the development, expected to span over two years, will create 800 temporary construction jobs and 100 permanent positions once the data center is fully operational.
According to a January 2024 study by Sage Policy Group, an economic and policy consulting firm headquartered in Baltimore, Rowan’s facility will generate an estimated $2.6 million in Frederick County during construction and more than $20 million in state level tax revenues, mostly through augmented sales tax receipts.
The report, published by the Maryland Tech Council, also points to the data center’s secondary impacts, including economic activity that could generate nearly $7 million in annual tax revenues for Frederick County and $14 million for the state.
Rowan’s Senior Director of Economic Development & Policy Martin Romo told Frederick Business Quarterly in an interview that the company’s plans are sure to attract additional business to the region.
“Once you have a data center hub in one place, it’s attractive to build additional centers nearby. It also becomes easier to permit future ones,” Romo said. “Trades get specialized, and it becomes a good ecosystem, each building on one another.
Romo and Daitch said as Rowan went through the site selection process, figuring out where it wanted to build next, it focused on finding a region where it could build partnerships with the local community and elected officials. And they found it in Frederick County.
“We have been blown away by the partnerships that we have been able to establish here,” Daitch said. “Everyone has been an incredible partner to us. It’s such a community in growth, it’s a very collaborative place to do business. There are so many proud business owners here.”
Read the complete article here.
