By Frank Daniels IV
Staff Writer
Amazon’s recent announcement of a data center campus in Richmond County has some in Moore wondering what the investment will bring on this side of the county line. Questions about short-term and long-term economic impact, educational opportunities, population strains and the lessons our leaders can take away from the Richmond strategy are all in the mix.
One thing is sure: Amazon’s $10 billion splash in Richmond will create a “splatter” in Moore and the surrounding counties, as state Sen. Tom McInnis put it.
That impact, however, will come with increased challenges.
With a promise of 500 permanent jobs, the long-term population growth will be smaller than the expected 5,000 jobs from the Toyota battery plant in Randolph County. However, Amazon officials said construction of the 20 buildings will be an ongoing process for the next decade, bringing around 2,000 construction and trade jobs to the region.
That could be a boon for existing businesses in Moore County, such as LKC Engineering, which has already worked on the site through an existing relationship with Richmond County. Adam Kiker, the group’s managing partner, said that, as with anything, there’s an element of luck in the opportunity. He said LKC has been involved with the site since around 2019, and it designed the sewer system for the site.
Amazon’s vice president of economic development, Roger Wehner, said his company will invest $35 million in water and sewer infrastructure in the county, and LKC will likely see some of those contracts, as it continues to work with the county on sewer infrastructure. Kiker said that the potential contracts will not change how they operate, and that if they hire new engineers, it would be a continuation of the growth the region has already experienced.
“I don’t think it’s fair to say that this project motivates us (in) hiring people, because that’s probably not a direct link,” he said. “This project certainly continues to give us confidence in what the market is bringing us and appreciates the services that we offer, so therefore we’re confident in hiring people.”
The construction work will pull from the existing pool of workers and businesses in Richmond and surrounding areas, but it will also draw skilled workers from afar. In recent years, Moore County has seen a boom in construction, both residential and commercial. The area doesn’t have the requisite construction workers to keep up with the work.
“Most of the jobs we bid — where we design it and publish it for advertisement — projects of significance, there might be four bidders, but there’s one electrician quoting the job,” Kiker said. “So, there’ll be a continued shortfall of electricians over the next half decade. For a long time, in our region, there’s been, in general, more construction work to be done than there are people to do it, so I think you could tell a similar story about carpenters and plumbers.”
The continued pressure for more workers will likely expand into other infrastructure, which will bring increased economic growth and challenges. A 10-year contract may motivate a number of workers to relocate family to the area, and that will lead to an outsized impact compared to the number of jobs.
Grocery stores and restaurants could see larger demand and higher patronage, but that could also mean additional demand for housing, which will continue to be a challenge in Moore County, as it is across the state and the nation.
The 500 permanent jobs are an opportunity for those looking to enter the workforce in the next five to 10 years. That will primarily draw on local talent ready and willing to do the work.
“(Amazon’s leaders) want people that are vocationally trained, certified, registered to do the work, (they) don’t necessarily need an associate degree or bachelor’s degree,” said McInnis. “They need people that have had high intensity, short-term maximized training, which we will offer at the Innovative High School at Sandhills Community College.”
That school, which will see its inaugural students in classrooms this fall, is an example of the existing infrastructure that Amazon officials said they will take advantage of as they ramp up hiring.
During his time at the podium during last Wednesday’s announcement, Wehner said Amazon partners with the local county school system and the state’s community college system to implement curriculum to create a tailored curriculum.
“(We’ll) partner with them to understand what the community needs are and, most importantly, to bring our program that we’’e seen be successful around the world to build, locally, the skilled technical workforce that we need to construct, operate, maintain and connect our data centers,” he said. “We’ve been very successful at doing that all over the world, locally.”
He said they will look first to Richmond County and then expand as needed to the surrounding region to source that workforce, but that county’s current population is around 42,000. With the site’s proximity about 30 miles from southern Moore County, its population approaching 110,000 could become a resource early on.
Given that population difference and the recent growth in Moore County, some wonder why Amazon didn’t choose Moore. Natalie Hawkins, president of the Moore County Economic Development Partnership, said she was asked if the county pursued the data centers.
“The answer is absolutely no,” she said. “Number one, we don’t have the electrical capacity to support that type of operation. Another thing is we don’t have the water. They require a lot of water — a ton of water — to keep everything cool and keep the servers from overheating.”
The recent approval and expected construction of Autoport’s Uhwarrie Motorsports Park highlight the challenge of industrial development in the county. That area was identified in the 2000s as a potential site for an industrial megapark. Ultimately, the lack of natural gas to the site, and the lack of investment to create access, led MCEDP and Hawkins to focus on other opportunities for smaller investments.
“You have to lean into your community’s assets, and we just don’t have those assets,” said Hawkins. “We have a lot of other assets, right? A lot of other assets that Richmond County doesn’t. That helps us be successful in attracting other types of businesses. We’re just different communities.”
The existing tourism economy and population mix have seen Moore grow with smaller golf and vacation-tourism-based businesses, which serve to net the community over $800 million in visitor spending. Industry that the county has attracted includes light manufacturing, such as the recent announcement of OA Manufacturing, a firearms business, in northern Moore.
Amazon’s investment impact in Moore County will likely be through residential growth. That typically sees a larger ratio of local government costs to tax revenue potential, compared to commercial growth. But ultimately, said Hawkins, economic development has regional benefits.
She also echoed a takeaway highlighted during the announcement last week: Economic development takes time. Wehner said economic development isn’t “lightning in a bottle, but most of the time it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
Richmond County’s economic developer, Martie Butler, said the Energy Way site hosted 47 serious visits before Amazon made its choice to purchase the property for its data center campus.
“Industrial development is a long ball game,” said Hawkins. “It takes strategic foresight. It takes continued investment. It takes clarity around what it is you’re trying to recruit. It takes recognition of your community’s assets and what you have to sell and what you can build on.
“Recognize that investments in infrastructure to recruit a sizable company that can bring meaningful capital investment and jobs to the community is going to require a long-term commitment. And without that investment, those companies are looking elsewhere.”
Contact Frank Daniels IV at (910) 693-2486 or frank@thepilot.com.
