ASK LEGISLATORS:
Say YES to the Kalkaska Data Center
Bring School Funding, Jobs, Infrastructure, & Ice Storm Recovery to Our Community
Bring School Funding, Jobs, Infrastructure, & Ice Storm Recovery to Our Community
Bring School Funding, Jobs, Infrastructure, & Ice Storm Recovery to Our Community
Speak Up for Kalkaska
Email Lawmakers Today
Kalkaska County has been selected as an ideal site for data center development.
Help us encourage a state land sale to make it happen!
A Big Boost for Kalkaska County
As we use the internet more and more in our daily lives, the need for data centers – clusters of computers – is surging. If you use a mobile phone, stream TV shows, watch videos, scroll social media, send emails, or access medical records online, then you use data centers daily.
RockLocker, a local energy company, has selected Kalkaska County for a new data center construction project because the county offers an ideal combination of open land, available utilities, and geology.
A data center will bring new jobs and millions of dollars in new tax revenue to our local schools, roads, public safety, and more.
To make it happen, we need to encourage more local control over economic development decisions by freeing up state land for this project.
Supporting a state land sale will help children, workers, and seniors in Kalkaska for decades to come, with no drawbacks.
Local government officials and other community advocates back this project, but to get it across the finish line, we need YOUR support.
Help us educate state decision makers about this project today! If we are granted the ability to use state-owned Kalkaska land for local economic development, Kalkaska families and schools will benefit.
Here’s How
a Data
Center Will Benefit YOU
Improving Schools
Property tax revenue from this development will result in millions of dollars in new funding for our kids and classrooms, giving our local schools a big boost.
Upgrading Public Safety & Infrastructure
A data center development will provide new funding for local government, allowing Kalkaska to invest in new roads, fire and ambulance services, and more – all decided at the local level.
Creating Jobs
A project like this will bring hundreds of construction, skilled trades, and engineering jobs to Kalkaska County for the duration of the build. Once it is running, the data center will create dozens of high-paying, long-term jobs. Plans are in development for local training programs to ensure local residents qualify for these new local jobs.
Growing Our Economy
With more people working locally, millions of dollars in economic growth will support our local businesses and economy, benefiting every Kalkaska County resident.
Protecting Our Air Quality
The data center project will power itself with a combination of heavy-duty power lines already present and a new power plant to be paid for by private development. Any carbon emissions from a new power plant would be captured and safely stored deep underground by using carbon capture technology. Our community would benefit from additional power generation, too.
Enhancing Internet Connectivity
Because the services a data center provides involve high-speed internet, Kalkaska County will benefit from the addition of modern broadband fiber infrastructure, creating better internet access across the county.
Preserving Our Quality of Life
In exchange for all these benefits, data centers have minimal impact on local quality of life. Traffic is limited because this is not a factory or busy warehouse that brings additional truck activity. Noise or visual issues are minimal due to buildings designed to limit sound and planned land buffers around the development. And, while water is piped through to cool the facility, water use can be limited through a closed-loop system that does NOT in any way contaminate the water.
Funding Ice Storm Reforestation Efforts
The brutal winter ice storm caused millions of dollars’ worth of damage across Northern Michigan, leaving state officials with the need to clean up public lands and replant thousands of trees. By selling unforested state land for this project, the state would obtain millions of dollars to be used for reforestation efforts in areas devastated by the ice storm.
Securing Kalkaska County’s Future With Local Control Over Our Land
With the state owning about half of all land in Kalkaska, bringing new economic development here can be challenging. To gain all the great benefits for our schools, economy, and infrastructure, the state would sell unforested land at market prices – transparently, no secret deals – for this development.
Support
"Kalkaska County welcomes the opportunity as it will serve as a catalyst for both economic and job growth within our community."
— Kalkaska County Board of Commissioners
"Kalkaska Township supports responsible economic development that enhances the quality of life for its residents, contributes to the local tax base, and supports job creation and property value growth."
— Kalkaska Township Board
"We respectfully urge the Department of Natural Resources to support the sale of the identified state land for this project."
— Kalkaska Memorial Health Center
“The proposed data center project presents a rare opportunity for Kalkaska County to expand its tax base, create quality jobs, and fund long-overdue improvements in our community. I support it fully and look forward to seeing the positive impact it can have on our schools, infrastructure, and quality of life.”
— John Arnold, Kalkaska Township Supervisor
"An AI Data Center would not only create much needed job opportunities in the area, but be a high tech training center, allowing more young people to remain in Northern Michigan after graduation."
— Kalkaska Village Downtown Development Authority
"As a Historically Underserved Business Community, the center can bring a multitude of positive effects from job creation to career training and development."
— Kalkaska Economic Development Corporation Board
"Kalkaska County is well-positioned to host a data center campus, offering access to abundant natural resources, robust energy infrastructure and a skilled local workforce eager for new career opportunities. The data center industry is also a catalyst for infrastructure improvements, broadband expansion and long term tax revenue growth for the community."
— Kalkaska County Sheriff’s Office
"We are confident that this development will be pursued in a way that aligns with state land use goals, prioritizes energy efficiency, and respects the natural character of Kalkaska County. This investment has the potential to position Kalkaska County as a hub for digital infrastructure in Michigan."
— Kalkaska Township Fire Department
"A data center can bring multiple benefits to the local community, including job creation during both the construction and operational phases, increased tax revenue, enhanced power grid stability, improved internet connectivity, and tech training programs."
— NorthStar Clean Energy
News
Data Center Explored for Kalkaska
Northern Michigan town weighs idea of large data center on state land
Kalkaska County courts new data center to drive AI future
‘It has all the ingredients’: Kalkaska County considers data center development
