Should Columbus have a data center? Economic development leader says yes
A Columbus economic development leader said Tuesday it’s time for the region to prepare for an artificial intelligence data center.
During the Georgia Economic Outlook in the Cunningham Conference Center at Columbus State University, Choose Columbus president and CEO Missy Kendrick said Columbus must “prepare now for significant discussions” about AI data centers in the region.
Kendrick said the profit made from AI data centers would be crucial to paying for “critical community needs” and “good quality of life.”
“We need to closely examine all of our funding resources,” Kendrick said. “Artificial intelligence data centers have become a significant discussion topic nationally and in Georgia over the last year. We need to prepare now for that discussion in Columbus, Georgia. The first thing we must understand is that they are essential, and they are coming.”
Kendrick listed a number of public projects that need to be funded, including the construction of a new Muscogee County Jail, the real estate development of South Commons and a new wastewater treatment plant. She said that these community projects outweigh public outrage against data centers.
“I know that Columbus already has a history with data centers,” Kendrick said later Tuesday in an interview with the Ledger-Enquirer. “We’ve got TSYS here. We’ve got Synovus here. We’ve got Aflac here. We’ve got Blue Cross, Blue Shield. We are a community that already has data centers. I believe that every community should have a data center to help them pay for community critical community needs, like I mentioned earlier, and I don’t believe that Columbus is any different. We need a big, large data center project.”
Kendrick told the Ledger-Enquirer no official plans for data center construction are slated for the region as yet, but conversations about constructing one are happening.
“I talk about it every chance I get,” Kendrick said.
This story was originally published January 27, 2026 at 2:50 PM.