It’s not every day that a $500 million private investment comes along – especially one with the potential to reshape the economic future of Sangamon County.
The proposed CyrusOne data center campus represents exactly that kind of opportunity: hundreds of jobs, a strengthened tax base, and long-term benefits for families across our region.
Economic development can sometimes feel abstract. Part of the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance’s role is helping connect opportunities like this to meaningful progress for our community. We recognize that decisions like these affect many people, and we support this project because we believe it will contribute to the long-term economic prosperity of Sangamon County.
Among the many advantages this project brings, the most important is its impact on our tax base. Today, the proposed site where the CyrusOne Data Center would be built generates a very small amount of property tax revenue. Once developed, it is projected to contribute millions each year, funding schools, strengthening public safety and supporting the infrastructure our community relies on.
A broader tax base has a meaningful impact on a community and the services its residents rely on. When more businesses and employers contribute to the local tax base, communities are better positioned to keep up with rising costs without placing additional strain on residents and small businesses. In many ways, it works like sharing the cost of household expenses among more people — the overall responsibility is spread more evenly. A larger tax base helps support essential services such as schools, public safety and emergency response, while also contributing to greater long-term financial stability for the community.
A $500 million investment in our community not only means a stronger taxbase, though, it also means more jobs. From the skilled construction trades that will build this data center to the technical professionals who will operate it, these are careers rooted locally. They are jobs that support families, create opportunity and remain tied to this community.
Major investments also create ripple effects throughout the regional economy. Local contractors, suppliers, small businesses and service providers all benefit when development takes root. That economic activity strengthens the entire community and encourages other businesses to come here.
It’s also important to consider that communities across Illinois are competing aggressively for responsible, long-term investment that strengthens local economies. As demand for modern infrastructure and emerging technologies continues to grow, investments like this are becoming an increasingly important part of economic development. Sangamon County’s ability to attract a project of this magnitude speaks to the strengths of our community. If it isn’t built here, it will be built somewhere else. By welcoming this growth, we ensure that our community secures the jobs, investment, tax revenue and economic benefits that come with it.
Over the past several months, CyrusOne has engaged directly with local leaders, residents, emergency responders and infrastructure partners. They have listened. They have adjusted plans. They have demonstrated a willingness to be a responsible and collaborative community partner, which is essential for successful projects.
Throughout my 20 years working in economic development, I can tell you opportunities of this magnitude are rare. When they arise, they deserve careful, fact-based evaluation focused on long-term public benefit. That is precisely what has occurred. Independent electric grid operators, industry experts and local utility providers have reviewed the project, and the Sangamon County Board has devoted significant time and diligence to ensure every question is addressed.
I’ve also learned one essential truth as it relates to economic development: when growth is approached thoughtfully, it strengthens a community’s future. It supports jobs. It stabilizes public finances. It expands opportunities for the next generation for everyone who lives here.
For these reasons, the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance urges the Sangamon County Board to approve this important investment in our community’s future.
Ryan McCrady is president and CEO of the Springfield Sangamon County Growth Alliance.
Pretty embarrassing that you are using the company’s glossed over concept photo and a literal paid shill for the company (who is already under fire by the city and city council for not directing existing funds properly) as an opinion piece without expressing the other side.
This is not guest opinion. This is paid advertisement. And the community as a whole will be the ones paying while this stuffed suit just takes his money off the top and only shows up to meetings where people of backgrounds and skin color will pat him on the back.
SGA as a whole are sellouts and this man is at the top of the pyramid.
Here’s some questions about the data center that no one will answer:
What happens if the company collapsed in the bubble; who is on the hook for this infrastructure and facility?
Of those “high paying jobs” how many are forced to be local and how many are temporary construction vs (very few) janitors and clip board holders?
Why not provide an independent study instead of mockups and projections for the center’s effect on the environment?
Up until this point, CyrusOne and their advocates have heard criticism for messing up their Aurora data center that ruined the water and drove people literally crazy with noise pollution. They haven’t said what they’ve fixed to make ours better, just “we got it this time.”
That isn’t good enough.
And if you’re mad about being called out or asking for those answers, then you and your advocates haven’t done a good enough job providing concrete answers and have just spent your time trying to shame and scare the community.
Essentially your core argument is always: “You better accept this influx of cash because we are so bad at handling money, we’ll need it.”
Vote no. If they vote yes, vote them out.
Thank you for sharing. While many communities may be competing, many are rejecting or pausing to further explore. The potential for solid, good paying jobs is negligible and the impact on our environment significant. The risk is far too great to accept their “investment”.
From streaming movies and gaming on your phone to getting near‑instant medical results like cancer screenings, modern life runs on data‑driven services — Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Google Maps, spam filters, real‑time translation, autocorrect, and everything in between.
Artificial intelligence pushes this even further: diagnosing diseases from medical images, tailoring treatment plans, speeding up drug discovery, blocking malware, catching phishing attempts, and driving scientific breakthroughs.
None of this happens without data centers. They’ve been operating since the 1950s, quietly doing the heavy lifting while critics pretend they’re some new threat. They use about as much water as office buildings — and some use none at all thanks to greywater systems. The data centers proposed here aren’t demanding tax breaks or discounted power. They’re offering to expand the tax base that funds our infrastructure, schools, public safety, libraries, higher education, healthcare, and social programs.
What other cities, counties, or states choose to do with their tax dollars to attract industry is their business. We don’t need to copy their incentives to benefit from growth. Expanding the tax base brings in far more revenue than squeezing taxpayers yet again.
Meanwhile, rising utility costs are the direct result of what many call the “green new scam” — shutting down reliable coal plants and replacing them with wind and solar that cost more, deliver less, and rely heavily on supply chains from China. Whatever environmental benefits were promised get wiped out by higher prices and dependence on a country with one of the worst human‑rights records on the planet.
Illinois politicians like Marc Ayers keep doubling down on this mess. They backed the latest state energy bill — just like the last three — that will drive utility costs even higher. Add their constant push for higher taxes, and you get a perfect storm for an already overtaxed central Illinois that’s losing jobs and people.
Data centers do the opposite. They strengthen long‑term prosperity, support local schools, and create both permanent and temporary jobs — exactly what central Illinois needs right now. Don’t rely on internet myths or political talking points. Go visit a data center and see what real economic development looks like
hi!
Pretty cowardly for the Illinois Times to delete my comment bringing up valid concerns after that comment was up for ten minutes.
We do not delete/hide comments except for those involving hate speech or inappropriate sexual remarks. Not sure why the comment would have been visible initially – I just received a notification to moderate it for approval, which I did immediately. The piece from Ryan McCrady is a Guestwork (opinion) piece and clearly labeled as such. We have also published numerous letters to the editor – more than I can count – from people opposed to the construction of the data center. Nobody is being censored or favored. — Michelle Ownbey, publisher
Very True
Here we go again with Cormie Don, a Sierra Club member and attorney from Pleasant Plains, once more spreading misinformation.
He’s the one who pushed for wind and solar power, claiming they don’t pollute more than coal plants.
These technologies, tied to one of the worst human rights abusers, RED China, have also driven up utility costs.
He argues that producing ultra‑pure silicon for photovoltaic cells requires massive energy and toxic chemicals, and that the total effort to build, transport, and install solar farms outweigh the energy they generate—especially in the Midwest, where weather limits output.
He also claims wind turbines are efficient, yet people like him are responsible for large utility rate increases. Stop lying, Commie Don—your facts are bogus, just like solar and wind. I hear the next Data center is coming to Pleasant Plains-more power to them
RED CHINA lmao
From streaming movies and gaming on mobile devices to receiving rapid medical results such as cancer screenings, many everyday conveniences depend on services like Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Google Maps, email spam filters, real‑time translation, and autocorrect.
Artificial intelligence now drives disease detection from medical images, personalized treatment plans, accelerated drug discovery, malware detection, phishing identification, and cybersecurity defenses, while also advancing scientific research.
Data centers—operating since the 1950s—make all of this possible. They often go unnoticed, blending into the background despite persistent misconceptions.
Their water usage is comparable to office buildings, and many use no potable water at all by relying on greywater or closed‑loop systems. The modern data centers proposed in our area are not seeking tax breaks or discounted power.
Instead, they will expand the tax base that funds infrastructure, education, public safety, libraries, higher education, healthcare, and social programs.
What other cities, counties, or states choose to do with their tax dollars to attract industries is their business—not ours.
Expanding the tax base generates far more revenue than raising taxes. Rising utility costs are tied to what critics call the “green new scam,” arguing that replacing coal plants with wind and solar—technologies they claim are more expensive, more polluting, and beneficial to China—undercuts environmental gains.
These critics also point to Illinois politicians, including Marc Ayers, who support wind and solar initiatives and backed the latest Illinois energy bill, which they argue will raise utility costs even further, just as the last three energy bills have.
They contend that these policies worsen the challenges facing an already overtaxed central Illinois struggling with job losses and population decline.
Data centers strengthen long‑term prosperity for everyone, especially local schools, while creating both permanent and temporary jobs—something central Illinois urgently needs.
Don’t just take the internet’s word for it; visit a data center and see for yourself. Meanwhile, China—widely criticized for severe human rights abuses—continues to benefit from the global shift toward wind and solar manufacturing.
Here we go again with Cormie Don, a Sierra Club member and attorney from Pleasant Plains, once more spreading misinformation.
He’s the one who pushed for wind and solar power, claiming they don’t pollute more than coal plants.
These technologies, tied to one of the worst human rights abusers, RED China, have also driven up utility costs.
He argues that producing ultra‑pure silicon for photovoltaic cells requires massive energy and toxic chemicals, and that the total effort to build, transport, and install solar farms outweigh the energy they generate—especially in the Midwest, where weather limits output.
He also claims wind turbines are efficient, yet people like him are responsible for large utility rate increases. Stop lying, Commie Don—your facts are bogus, just like solar and wind. I hear the next Data center is coming to Pleasant Plains-more power to them