The Daily Dig:
Meta's building its next data center campus in Lebanon, Indiana, roughly 4 million square feet that will be the company's second facility in the state, 27th in the U.S., and 31st worldwide. The project represents over $10 billion in investment and will support around 4,000 construction jobs at peak, plus more than 300 permanent operational roles once it's up and running.
Meta named Mortenson, Turner Construction, and Faith Technologies as project partners. The company's been working with Boone Power and Wabash Valley Power Alliance from the start to plan energy delivery. Meta will cover its full energy costs so local consumers aren't impacted, and it's putting $1 million a year for 20 years into the Boone County Community Trust for local energy assistance.
Project Snapshot:
Developer / Owner: Meta
Location: Lebanon, Indiana
Facility Size: 4 million square feet
Capital Investment: $10B+
Construction Employment: 4,000 peak jobs
Permanent Jobs: 300+ operational roles
Project Partners: Mortenson, Turner Construction, Faith Technologies
Power Partners: Boone Power & Wabash Valley Power Alliance
Energy Cost Structure: Meta paying full cost of energy used
Clean Energy Strategy: Investing in new clean energy
Water Strategy: 100% water restoration to local watersheds and full cost of water and wastewater service
Community Investment: $1M annually for 20 years to Boone County Community Trust
Local Assistance: Utility support through partnership with The Caring Center (emergency water bill support for 500 families)
Grants Program Launch: Data Center Community Action Grants - fall 2026
Education / Skills: No cost digital skills training and STEAM education support
TheJobWalk Thoughts:
Meta naming Mortenson, Turner, and Faith Technologies up front tells you how the work will flow. On a $10 billion campus, those three firms will package out the scopes- sitework, structural, envelope, MEP, and mission critical systems, across multiple phases as the buildings come online. If you're already working with one of those GCs on another job, you've got a line of sight. If you're not, you need to be talking to their ops teams now while they're still building their trade partner lists for later phases. Once the first packages are bought, the roster tends to stick. The window to get on it isn't when dirt moves, it's right now, while they're still mapping who does what.
