Ellendale, North Dakota, offers a quick lesson in what a data center can do for a small town. Before Applied Digital (APLD) began working with the community, local tax revenue ran about $400,000 a year. Today it is close to $4 million, CEO Wes Cummins said on the company's Oct. 7 earnings call.
The tax revenue increase can help pay for schools, infrastructure, and emergency services. Cummins added that construction workers on the sites earn six figures on average, and most of that money stays in the local economy.