Microsoft announces $3.3 billion investment in Wisconsin

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Tech giant Microsoft on Wednesday announced a $3.3 billion investment through 2026 for the data center campus in Mount Pleasant, with plans for thousands of construction jobs and implications for tech manufacturing and upskilling for the region.

President Joe Biden will appear at the site on Wednesday with Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, to announce the expanded data center in Mount Pleasant. The data center will be built on land previously set aside for Taiwan-based Foxconn to kickstart a tech manufacturing hub, but those plans never came to fruition.

“Wisconsin has a rich and storied legacy of innovation and ingenuity in manufacturing,” Smith said in a statement. “We will use the power of (artificial intelligence) to help advance the next generation of manufacturing companies, skills and jobs in Wisconsin and across the country. This is what a big company can do to build a strong foundation for every medium, small and start-up company and non-profit everywhere,” he added.

Microsoft data center comes with construction jobs, educational partnerships for AI careers

Microsoft plans to invest $3.3 billion between now and the end of 2026 to expand its national cloud and AI infrastructure through the datacenter campus, company officials said. The project is expected to bring 2,300 construction jobs by 2025, officials added.

The tech giant will partner with Gateway Technical College to build a Data Center Academy to train and certify more than 1,000 students in five years to work in the new data center and adjacent information technology jobs, officials said. Microsoft will also start a manufacturing-focused AI lab at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus, which is expected to serve 270 state companies by 2030, officials added.

Similarly, TitletownTech in Green Bay will connect with the lab and Microsoft and the Green Bay Packers are partnered to fund the new lab in Milwaukee, officials said. Microsoft will also partner with United Way Wisconsin, United Way Racine and other community partners to upskill more than 100,000 people across the state by 2030 on generative AI, officials added.

Tech giant announces partnerships for STEM education and wants sustainable features on campus

As part of Wednesday’s announcement, Microsoft said it will partner with the Racine Unified School District and work with Girls and STEM to expand its program to two additional district middle schools and educate more than 500 middle school-aged girls over the next five years. Officials added that Microsoft will work with Racine County and match 125 young people between the ages of 16 and 18 to work with local employers and job training.

Part of the investment includes Equity Through Technology and STEAM Grant Funds to more than 12,000 Racine County residents engaged in United Way programs, officials said. Started in 2023, the grants help nonprofits address disparities and support under-resourced communities through technology, officials added.

National Grid, a multinational utility based in England, will partner with Microsoft and build a 250-megawatt solar project in Wisconsin that will go online in 2027. In 2027, Microsoft expects to have more than 4,000 MW added to the local grid and power more than 3 million homes.

Both companies pledged to jointly contribute $20 million over the term of an agreement to a community fund to support under-resourced communities affected by pollution.

Microsoft also gave a glimpse of its sustainable plans for the data center — the building will use recycled water in a closed loop cooling system that won’t require additional water after starting. Only a small part of the facility will use water for cooling, but only when the temperature outside is very warm, officials explained.

Gov. Tony Evers, who helped break the news with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., called the announcement a “watershed moment” for the state.

“Microsoft is a blue-chip corporation that recognizes the strength of Wisconsin’s workers, infrastructure, economy, and our quality of life. Microsoft has chosen to locate and invest here because they know the future is here in Wisconsin,” Evers said in a statement.