What data centers are already here in Stark County?
Stark County, Ohio, is home to several existing and planned data centers, including Bitdeer's 221-megawatt crypto mining facility and a 240-megawatt data center under construction in Perry Township. Smaller operators like Ark Data Centers and LightSpeed Technologies also have a presence, while FairlawnGig is expanding its municipal data center. The article highlights discussions around the definition and local benefits of hyperscale data centers.
Stark County, Ohio, is experiencing significant data center development, with several projects either operational, under construction, or in the planning stages. Bitdeer's site manager, Jon Wonsettler, confirmed their Massillon crypto mining facility operates as a 221-megawatt data center, poised to be the largest in the county. However, a larger 240-megawatt data center is already under construction in Perry Township.
Damac Digital Solution Ohio LLC has also acquired land northeast of Trump Avenue and Orchard View Drive SE, receiving a demolition permit from Canton for a parcel containing residential structures, signaling potential data center development. Meanwhile, smaller operators like Ark Data Centers and LightSpeed Technologies maintain a presence; Ark operates a 5,600 square foot, 1.5-megawatt data center in Canton. Andrew Engel, CTO of LightSpeed Technologies, which has a small data center offering colocation services in Canton, expressed concern about a potential "overbuild" similar to the dot-com era.
Separately, Dustin Wright, a technology officer at FairlawnGig, detailed a $2 million expansion of their municipal broadband utility's data center in Fairlawn, which currently serves government, security, and health agencies. Wright also noted the significant power and space demands of new, sophisticated data centers, leading to questions about their comparability to traditional facilities and their local benefits.