Announcement marks $14.8B committed to Indiana’s technology infrastructure in 2024, accelerating global cloud and AI innovation

LA PORTE, Ind. (June 3, 2024) – Governor Eric J. Holcomb today announced that Microsoft will invest $1 billion to establish a new data center in northwest Indiana. The new facility, which will create up to 200 new jobs by the end of 2032 in La Porte, will accelerate cloud computing infrastructure to support growth in technology and artificial intelligence worldwide. 

“Indiana is committed to being a central hub in the global economy of the future, and this latest announcement ensures Hoosier communities and talent will be key to widespread advancements in cloud and artificial intelligence technology,” said Gov. Holcomb. “As a state, we’ve built a pro-growth business climate and implemented a future-focused framework to attract major investments in high-tech, high-growth sectors. We’re excited to welcome Microsoft’s new data center to Indiana and look forward to the incredible value add impact this will have on our statewide data driven ecosystem, new career opportunities, specifically the greater northwest Indiana community.” 

Microsoft, headquartered in Redmond, Washington, will construct a new 245,000-square-foot data center on 489 acres at the Radius Industrial Park in La Porte. The campus will help power the Microsoft Cloud and support the next-level digital transformation spurred by the widespread adoption of cloud computing and AI (artificial intelligence). The La Porte facility will join the company’s worldwide network of cloud computing infrastructure of more than 60 Azure regions, more than 300 data centers, over 280,000 kilometers of network, and over 190 edge sites. 

To support its growth in Indiana, Microsoft plans to hire a variety of positions, including critical environment engineers, IT technicians and managers, inventory and asset technicians and managers, security personnel, and site managers. The timeline for construction and operations of the new datacenter is dependent on the design, planning and permitting process, which will start in cooperation with the City of La Porte later this year.

“Microsoft is excited to expand our datacenter infrastructure into Indiana, with our first campus to be built in La Porte,” said Bowen Wallace, Microsoft CVP Datacenters, Americas Region. “We appreciate the collaboration with the State, City and the La Porte Economic Advancement Partnership that has made this opportunity possible. We look forward to an enduring and beneficial relationship with Indiana and the City of La Porte as we build and scale our data center infrastructure to support our customer and partners.”

Microsoft is committed to the responsible operations of their datacenters, with its environmental impact on local communities firmly in mind. The company has four main sustainability goals: Being carbon negative and removing its historical carbon emissions by 2050; Being water positive and replenishing more water than it uses; Being zero waste across its direct operations; Protecting more land than it uses by 2025.

“Projects like this happen once in a lifetime, and their effects are felt forever,” said La Porte Mayor Tom Dermody. “What makes this even better is that we get to work with the talented and community-minded team at Microsoft. From the very beginning of this project, they have been committed and attentive to the needs of our community. We are incredibly excited to welcome them here and look forward to a strong collaboration long into the future.”

The city of La Porte approved additional incentives to support the project. NIPSCO offered additional incentives.

“Providing safe, reliable and affordable energy to the communities we serve is NIPSCO’s mission, and we have been working closely with Microsoft on plans to fulfill the energy needs for the new data center in the city of La Porte,” said Vince Parisi, NIPSCO President and Chief Operating Officer. “This economic development project will deliver long-term, sustained benefits to the northwest Indiana region, and we’re proud to support these efforts.”

Today’s news marks Indiana’s fourth strategically located major planned data center announcement in 2024. Together, these Fortune 500 businesses have made plans to invest $14.8 billion in cloud computing and storage infrastructure in communities and regions across Indiana, creating 1,500 new jobs in Fort Wayne, Jeffersonville, La Porte and New Carlisle.

Based on the company’s investment plans, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) committed an investment in Microsoft in the form of a 35-year term data center sales tax credit for a minimum $1 billion in eligible capital investment. For each $1 billion of eligible investment made at the site within the first 15 years, the company will be eligible for tax exemptions for an additional 5-10-year period, up to a total term of 45 years. These incentives are performance-based, meaning the company is eligible to claim state benefits once investments are made.