The Montreal company proposing to open a $1 billion data center in the town of Madison is requesting up to a combined $25.4 million in local economic incentives toward the project.
The former Unifi Inc. manufacturing plant in Madison is being converted into a data center by the artificial-intelligence division of Bit Digital, Rockingham County Economic Development officials announced on June 2.
Bit Digital’s unit, WhiteFiber Inc., will operate the data center.
Another Bit Digital company, Enovum Data Centers Corp., paid $45 million in May for the 947,000-square-foot plant, which sits on a 95-acre site at 805 Island Drive, according to a Unifi regulatory filing. Bit Digital acquired Enovum in November.
Public hearings on the requests from Enovum NC-1Bidco LLC will be held by the Rockingham County Board of Commissioners and the Madison Board of Aldermen.
Commissioners will vote at 6 p.m. Monday on whether to approve providing Enovum NC-1Bidco with up to $11.5 million in performance-based incentives.
Meanwhile, the Madison board will hold its public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Thursday to consider offering up to $13.9 million in performance-based incentives.
In return, Enovum NC-1Bidco said that in addition to the $1 billion capital investment, it would create and maintain 31 full-time jobs over an eight-year period beginning Dec. 31.
“Securing this site is a meaningful step in scaling our AI infrastructure platform,” WhiteFiber chief executive Sam Tabar said in a June 2 news release.
“The location, size and power profile make it a rare asset, and we believe it will be foundational as we meet accelerating demand from AI customers and pursue long-term value creation for our shareholders,” Tabar said.
At that time, Enovum pledged to create at least 60 jobs with an average annual wage of $67,000, according to Rockingham County Commissioner Kevin Berger.
WhiteFiber said it has secured a capacity agreement with the local utility for 99 megawatts, with 24 megawatts expected to be online by the end of 2025. A preliminary feasibility study supports the growth of capacity up to 200 megawatts over time.
According to the Rockingham economic development group, WhiteFiber also plans to request state incentives, employment support programs, and reduced utility rates to support the project’s development.
The Rockingham group said WhiteFiber is negotiating with multiple high-performance computing tenants, citing the value of proximity to major metropolitan areas.
rcraver@wsjournal.com
336-727-7376
@rcraverWSJ
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