By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green officials were taken aback this week when promotional materials from Meta started showing up online and on TV.
The ads talked about Meta investing $28 million in road, community and water infrastructure in Bowling Green.
“Obviously that’s not an entirely accurate statement,” Mayor Mike Aspacher said earlier this week.
The $800 million Meta data center is being constructed in Middleton Township, about five miles north of Bowling Green. While the location has a Bowling Green address, none of the acreage is in the city limits.
When BG Public Works Director Mike Murray saw the mention of millions coming to Bowling Green for roads, he was dubious.
“That would be awesome,” Murray said, as he left a meeting on Monday where the topic of street repair funding had been discussed.
Murray has seen no money from Meta for roads. “I might press them on that,” he said with a grin.
BG Independent News emailed questions to a Meta public affairs person about the inaccuracies in the promotional materials, asking for a breakdown of how the $28 million is benefiting Bowling Green. The Meta representative responded in an email, saying she wanted to push back on BG Independent’s framing that Meta is being untruthful or misleading.
However, the specifics matter, since some Bowling Green residents were already under the misconception that the city should not need to raise any utility rates or taxes, since it was swimming in new revenue from Meta.
Some city leaders are concerned that these new ads will just perpetuate those untruths.
The Meta representative said the public relations landing page has been updated to correct the claims about the company’s $28 million in road and water infrastructure improvements. The page now says Wood County is benefiting, not Bowling Green.
The Meta data center ad shows video of Bowling Green’s Main Street, focusing on the downtown. The promotional materials sent out to media in the region promised “Smoother roads. Stronger water systems. Suppliers adding headcount. Local businesses finding new customers.”
One ad features “Kathy” from the On the Move Catering business. In the video, “Kathy” says the business has seen “booming” growth in an area where “there was just nothing here” prior to Meta. https://www.meta.com/actions/building-ohio/
That depiction of this area as being depressed was disturbing to some.
“I thought that the representation of the business climate in this region prior to Meta was somewhat misleading,” Aspacher said.
Some comments on Meta’s Facebook post about the catering business question the longevity of its success, since there are approximately 1,000 construction workers on the site now, but once the data center is operational, it will employ about 100.
The Meta spokesperson said that while the city of Bowling Green is not the direct recipient of the $28 million infrastructure investment, the city residents will benefit. For example, the company paid for the construction of a roundabout on Ohio 582, east of Ohio 25. The spokesperson noted that Route 25 runs through downtown Bowling Green.
As another example, the spokesperson said Meta has spent $8 million to build a new, elevated water storage tank next to the data center site, at the Northwestern Water and Sewer District in Middleton Township. The tank is part of the district’s water system that provides water from the Bowling Green water treatment plant to the Meta data center.
“Our involvement is limited to supplying water to the Northwestern Water and Sewer District, which supplies water to Meta,” Aspacher said.
While the city may benefit indirectly from the new 2 million gallon water tower, the city will see no investment in its water treatment and distribution systems, said the city’s Public Utilities and Infrastructure Director Brian O’Connell. Initially, Meta had talked with the city about using Bowling Green water for cooling of the data center. Since then, Meta made the decision to use a closed loop cooling system, which requires less water.
The Meta public affairs person also noted that Meta has handed out $411,000 in grants so far, with some recipients in Bowling Green:
- Four Corners Center (which includes the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce, Bowling Green Economic Development, Downtown Bowling Green Special Improvement District and Visit BG)
- Bowling Green Middle School
- Bowling Green Recycling Inc.
- Bowling Green State University
- Wood County Educational Service Center
The spokesperson also pointed out that Meta helped sponsor the National Tractor Pulling Championships and the Wood County Fair this year. She submitted the following statement from Meta:
“Meta’s Bowling Green Data Center represents a significant long-term investment including $28 million in critical infrastructure that helps strengthen the region, encompassing Middleton Township, the city of Bowling Green, Wood County, and the surrounding communities. The reality is that our data center creates thousands of jobs, generates millions in tax revenue, and builds the infrastructure that Ohio residents and businesses rely on every day. We are proud of this work and remain focused on our long-term partnership with the broader Northwest Ohio area.”
