Despite pushback, data centers are booming — and these Upstate companies are betting on them
Despite growing community concerns in Spartanburg County, two local companies, Airsys and Pantheon Electric, are heavily investing in the booming data center industry. Airsys, a thermal management manufacturer, opened its new global HQ in Woodruff, focusing on sustainable cooling systems to reduce energy and water consumption. Pantheon Electric, through its High Performance Conductors subsidiary in Inman, is supplying specialty conductors increasingly needed by data centers.
Despite rising community concerns about data center development in areas like Spartanburg County, two companies with significant operations in the region are banking on the continued growth of the industry, particularly driven by artificial intelligence.
Airsys, a global thermal management manufacturer, officially opened the first phase of its new 60-acre global headquarters campus in Woodruff, South Carolina, in May. CEO Yunshui Chen highlighted AI data centers as a major growth driver expected to dominate the company's revenue. Airsys specializes in cooling systems and aims to make data centers more sustainable by reducing their impact on the power grid and local water reserves. Their philosophy includes avoiding water consumption in data centers by using closed-loop liquid cooling systems, such as their LiquidRack system. Airsys also developed the Arc90 process, which can boost an existing data center's computing power by up to 50 percent without additional energy, and plans to repurpose data center heat for other buildings.
Meanwhile, the parent company of High Performance Conductors in Inman, South Carolina, has partnered with three other firms to form Pantheon Electric, headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. CEO Gregory Smith noted that a substantial portion of Pantheon Electric's nearly $2 billion annual revenue comes from the data center market. High Performance Conductors specializes in high-temperature and high-tensile-strength alloys, products increasingly sought by data centers. The company is optimistic about continued growth, mirroring trends seen at its other facilities in Pennsylvania and Kentucky, as copper supply faces challenges keeping pace with electrification demands.