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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowMeta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is considering an investment of up to $800 million in Lebanon’s LEAP Innovation and Research District.
The Lebanon City Council on Monday night approved incentives tied to the technology conglomerate’s possible plans for a project in the advanced manufacturing and research development park. The incentives include a new tax-increment financing district, pre-allocation of water resources from Lebanon Utilities and a performance-based economic development agreement.
Specific details of the incentives were not immediately available.
“While not yet finalized, their [Meta’s] proposed investment would demonstrate a strong commitment to contributing to the growth and well-being of our community,” Lebanon Mayor Matt Gentry said in a statement released by the Boone Economic Development Corp., which provides business attraction and retention services for the county.
LEAP stands for Limitless Exploration/Advanced Pace. Meta’s potential inclusion in the district would join a $13.5 billion cumulative investment from Eli Lilly and Co.
Lilly has signed multiple development agreements for LEAP that together would span two sites totaling 800 acres. The projects include new manufacturing facilities and a first-of-its-kind medicine foundry that could yield more than 1,300 high-wage jobs by 2030.
Indiana Commerce Secretary David Rosenberg told IBJ in October that an undisclosed company was expected to make an announcement later this year about plans for a $6 billion project on a 1,500-acre site west of Interstate 65 in the LEAP District.
The potential agreement between Lebanon and Meta could include as much as $1.5 million annually in community impact funds focused on quality of life and placemaking initiatives.
IBJ has reached out to the IEDC and Lebanon city officials for comment.
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This is such a joke.
Oh boy…more water we cannot supply.
Robert H….what the heck do you want? Seriously what is YOUR vision or ideal company for this area? Are you against high paying, high tech jobs? Bring on “progress” to Lebanon.
It is 80 jobs total once in operation. If you don’t believe me, watch the Lebanon City Council meeting video on YouTube. Millions of tax payer dollars down the drain in incentives, acquiring water resources for the water crisis Lebanon created through LEAP, and so on for… 80 jobs. So yes, it is a joke.
Data centers do not provide the type of ‘high tech’ jobs that are abundant on the coasts. They employ a couple dozen electricians, hvac professionals, and engineers. There’s nothing wrong with any of those jobs, but the number of employees per dollar spent is as low as possible.
What data centers actually do is stress out the grid in ways that tend to pass costs down to rate payers and slow down clean energy transitions, and burn through taxpayer money. Subsidizing them is a race to the absolute bottom of the barrel.
Data center, kiss your aquifers goodbye unless the state powers that be have already guaranteed the Wabash pipeline behind closed doors.