Upper Merion officials can approve nearly 15,000 jobs a year and $55.4 million a year in new local tax revenue this week, or they can send these high-paying jobs elsewhere and raise taxes on local citizens once again.

A new economic and fiscal impact analysis prepared by 4ward Planning Inc. finds that redeveloping 5.08 million square feet of vacant office buildings, vacant land, and existing industrial properties into a 1.23-gigawatt IT load computing campus as part of the Upper Merion Data Centers initiative would support an average of 14,766 jobs a year in Montgomery County through construction. The project would create 717 permanent positions with compensation averaging $145,000 and generate $1.11 billion for four local taxing bodies over the 20-year lease term once operations stabilize in 2030. Of the $55.4 million in annual local tax revenue, nearly $37.9 million a year goes to the Upper Merion Area School District. Without approval, none of this will happen.

That produces $37,892,703 a year for the Upper Merion Area School District, $8,539,450 for the township before a modeled service cost of $62,221, $8,268,093 for Montgomery County and $741,737 for Montgomery County Community College. Because the project adds no housing and no students, the school district receives 100% of that revenue with zero cost.

The cost of running Upper Merion has been climbing, and residents are paying for it. The township raised its municipal property tax rate 26% for 2026, on top of a 23% increase two years earlier, leaving the rate 54% higher than it was in 2023. Supervisors added a dedicated ambulance levy this year and still drew $3 million from reserves to balance an operating budget that grew 13.3% in a single year. The Upper Merion Area School District has raised its property tax rate in each of the past three budget cycles, and its special education spending has climbed from $16.8 million to $23.6 million, a 40% increase.

The jobs come first, and they come to people who live here

The study shows an average of 9,563 direct construction jobs a year in Montgomery County across the build, rising to 14,766 total temporary full- and part-time construction-related jobs per year including direct, indirect, and induced effects, and 16,914 across the seven-county region. Each direct construction job represents approximately $131,000 in annual labor income. The construction program alone would put $5.1 billion in labor income into Montgomery County and generate $11.1 billion in total economic output.

When the buildings open, 717 permanent workers will operate them. Of those positions, 614 (86%) don't require a four-year degree, with 141 coming through apprenticeship and skilled-trade certification, 237 through a high school diploma plus an industry certification, and 178 through a high school diploma or GED. A critical facility technician's job is worth $147,000 in pay and benefits. A senior technician's is worth $196,000.

"These are six-figure jobs that someone from Norristown or Bridgeport can get with a high school diploma and proper training," said developer Brian O'Neill. "We're talking about almost 15,000 jobs every year. An investment like this presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that, if not acted upon, will be shipped out to other states that want business and jobs and does not want to raise taxes. Pennsylvania is in a technology race with China to lead the new digital economy.”

The training pipeline already exists. In May, all 15 Pennsylvania community colleges, including Montgomery County Community College, were authorized to deliver the Multi-Craft Core Curriculum pre-apprenticeship program through an agreement with TradesFutures.

"Hundreds of our union members live in Montgomery County, and projects like these mean years of good, family-sustaining work close to home. They put food on the table, create opportunities for the next generation of skilled tradespeople and keep workers' paychecks circulating in their own communities," said Jim Snell, business manager for Steamfitters Local Union 420. "Data centers are significant, long-term investments that support not only steamfitters, electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians and other trades, but an entire local supply chain. They also generate economic activity and tax revenue that can support schools, public safety, tax relief and other community priorities. We want these projects built responsibly and to the highest standards. Skilled union labor helps ensure exactly that. Done right, these data centers can be good neighbors and a major economic win for Upper Merion, Montgomery County and the working families who call this community home."

The paychecks come back to Upper Merion as tax base

Over the first 20 years of operations, from 2030 through 2049, the study projects $3.48 billion in labor income in Montgomery County from the campus and the businesses it sustains.

The campus itself would add an estimated $1.51 billion in assessed value to a township base of $4.48 billion, an expansion of 34% from a single development.

Other communities show what that money does. Loudoun County, Virginia, collected $733 million in data center taxes in fiscal 2023, 31% of county tax revenue, from facilities occupying 4% of its commercial parcels, and received an estimated $26 for every $1 spent serving them. In Richland Parish, Louisiana, construction-period revenue let the school board issue a $50,935 payment to every vested teacher and $17,472 to eligible support staff.

The campus is designed to the standards the township outlined

The facilities are designed to generate their own on-site electricity rather than draw down the regional grid, to cool with closed-loop water systems, and to include millions of dollars in innovative sound abatement engineered to meet township noise standards. The campus replaces vacant office buildings and vacant land already zoned and served by existing infrastructure.

About Discovery Data Centers

Discovery Data Centers (DDC) acquires and zones land, develops and builds buildings for hyperscale data center development and delivers it end-to-end. The leadership team brings 48 years of execution experience redeveloping brownfield sites across biotechnology, food distribution, tier-one operating centers and data centers. Discovery Data Centers "recycles" existing brownfield sites and buildings, expediting zoning and time to market.

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