Meridian and Lauderdale County are set to see approximately $10 billion in new investment after it was announced Jan. 9 that Compass Datacenters will build a new data center campus in the Interstate 20 industrial park.

 

The announcement follows months of closed door discussions between the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation, Lauderdale County Supervisors, City of Meridian, Mississippi Power and more. Bringing the development to Meridian is the product of significant legwork and advocacy for our community, and all those involved deserve our thanks.

 

To add perspective to the deal, Tax Assessor Whitney Hodges said Thursday the total valuation of property in Lauderdale County is approximately $5 billion. Over the next eight years, Compass will invest twice that in the local community as it builds eight data centers on its data center campus here in Meridian.

 

Yet $10 billion does not reflect the true impact of the Compass deal as it is only the direct economic investment from the deal. Lauderdale County will also see indirect impact, with money from the thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of permanent positions created to maintain the data centers being spent at local restaurants, boutiques, gas stations and more.

 

The new industry will also bring more opportunities for East Mississippi residents to work, helping to raise standards of living, as well as contributing several million in new tax dollars for city and county governments to invest in infrastructure and other public projects.

 

Meridian Mayor Jimmie Smith called the Compass deal a generational investment that will “change the culture of Meridian,” and he is likely to be proven right. The scale of the investment and its potential impact to the community is hard to fathom, but it is clear Meridian in eight years will be much different than the Meridian that exists today.

 

There will be no shortage of state and regional officials lining up to take credit for bringing Compass here, but such investments are not made quickly or without serious vetting. Regardless of outside involvement, the data centers are coming to Lauderdale County because a handful of people fought, and fought hard, on its behalf.

 

We are grateful for their efforts and look forward to the growth and change the next eight years will bring to Meridian.