Ohio Business Roundtable Launches Future Ready Ohio to Put Communities in the Driver's Seat on Data Centers
A new effort gives communities the facts and the leverage to negotiate a data center deal that works for them
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Business Roundtable today announced the launch of Future Ready Ohio, a statewide effort to replace rumor and misinformation with sourced facts about the data center investment reshaping the state—making sure it happens on terms that work for Ohio communities.
Ohio is one of the fastest-growing data center markets in the country, drawing billions of dollars in private investment and thousands of skilled-trades construction jobs to communities. The real question facing Ohio isn't whether that growth continues—it's whether local communities have the facts, and the leverage, to shape it on their own terms: power arrangements that protect ratepayers rather than raise their bills, siting on brownfield and industrial land instead of farmland wherever possible, and revenue that visibly funds schools and property tax relief.
“Ohio has a once-in-a-generation opportunity in front of it, and the real choice isn’t whether data centers are coming—it’s whether Ohio communities help write the terms,” said Pat Tiberi, President and CEO of the Ohio Business Roundtable. “Future Ready Ohio exists to put the facts on the table, so every community is empowered to negotiate a deal that works for them, not just for the company writing the check.”
The effort draws support from voices across Ohio's economy, including ACT Ohio. That kind of alignment—between the businesses recruiting this investment and the workers who build it—doesn't happen often, but both agree that getting the next decade of projects right is in the best interest of all Ohioans.
“From energy generation to infrastructure to tech-hub construction, Ohio is in the midst of an industrial renaissance as demand for skilled blue-collar workers is sky-rocketing due to this large-scale investment. For Ohio’s Building Trades, applications for our apprenticeship programs are at record levels, wages are rising, and members are working closer to home.” Matt Szollosi, Executive Director of ACT Ohio.
Setting the Record Straight
Much of the public conversation about data centers in Ohio has outpaced the facts. Future Ready Ohio's research has checked the most common claims against the public record.
The claim: Data centers get lucrative tax breaks and leave residents to pick up the tab. The record: Ohio is in the middle of a real property tax reckoning, and data center investment is already putting meaningful money behind the districts hosting it. In 2024, Licking Heights Schools received $2.67 million and Johnstown-Monroe Schools received $2.51 million from data center development — equal to 9.2% of that district's entire operating budget — with more on the way as projects reach full build-out. Done right, revenue like that can ease the pressure behind rising property taxes and reduce how often districts have to go back to voters for new levies.
The claim: These are one-time construction booms that leave nothing behind once the ribbon-cutting ends.
The record: Ohio's data center sector is projected to support 37,200 jobs by 2030, including 4,500 long-term operations roles, and add $4.7 billion to the state's GDP. In New Albany alone, construction employment has averaged 3,500 jobs a year for the past decade and is expected to continue for another 10 to 15 years as equipment cycles through.
The claim: Data centers drain local water supplies, straining the same water communities rely on.
The record: Nationally, all U.S. data centers combined use well under 0.2% of the country's freshwater consumption. Modern facilities are also shifting to closed-loop, direct-to-chip cooling that recirculates water rather than evaporating it continuously — many of Ohio’s newest campuses rely on water-based cooling only about 3% of the year, drawing on outside air the rest of the time.
Future Ready Ohio will work with local officials, chambers, school leaders and residents to share independent facts on power, siting, taxes, jobs and water—and to help communities identify the tools, from community benefit agreements to payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) arrangements, that let them negotiate the strongest possible deal for their own community.
About Future Ready Ohio
Future Ready Ohio is an initiative of the Ohio Business Roundtable, created to replace misinformation with sourced facts and help communities across the state make informed, confident decisions about data center development. Backed by a cross-section of Ohio industries and paired with independent validation from partners across Ohio's economy, Future Ready Ohio is focused on what's best for communities.
Visit our website: https://www.futurereadyohio.org/
