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Right Place unveils three‑pillar strategic plan as city officials press on data center risks and benefits
Summary
The Right Place presented a new strategic plan centered on people, place and prosperity and defended an informational data‑center website after commissioners raised concerns about sourcing, equity and local utility capacity; Microsoft, cited by presenters, has said it will not seek tax incentives for a proposed site.
The Right Place on Tuesday rolled out an updated strategic plan built around three pillars — people, place and prosperity — and said the strategy reflects input from nearly 600 stakeholders across the region.
Andrea Ramkma, who leads business growth initiatives at the Right Place, told the economic development project team the plan emphasizes business retention and expansion while pursuing targeted attraction in advanced manufacturing, tech and health sciences. "Any strong economy starts with our local businesses," Ramkma said, adding that the organization meets with more than 600 companies annually and supports nearly 3,000 manufacturers in the region.
The presentation struck a more pointed tone when commissioners questioned the Right Place's guidance on data centers. Ramkma described a new informational website the organization launched to collect studies and explain common concerns about water, power consumption and economic impacts. "We are providing sourced information for people to review," she said.
Commissioner Cer said the website and Right Place materials felt "biased and underbaked," asking whether the organization had consulted energy, water or environmental specialists before publishing. Cer also questioned long‑term job projections tied to potential Microsoft facilities and flagged the omission of equity and tax‑incentive considerations from the public materials.
Ramkma replied that Right Place has consulted with utility partners — she noted that local utility representatives sit on the Right Place board — and with communities that hosted prior data center projects. On projected job counts, she said Microsoft estimated roughly "200 to 300 long‑term jobs" at comparable sites, but cautioned the figure depends on final site plans. Ramkma also said Microsoft has committed not to take tax incentives for the site she discussed.
Mayor and city staff urged care in regional planning and emphasized the city's interest in protecting existing customers and future development from capacity constraints. The city manager reiterated a regional investment forecast of about $700 million over three years and said officials must ensure expansions do not inadvertently preclude other development or shift costs to residential customers.
Beyond the data center discussion, Right Place staff outlined place‑based initiatives to market build‑ready industrial sites (noting a regional industrial vacancy near 3 percent), a $100,000 program to improve catalytic infill parcels and efforts to attract more nonstop flights at Gerald R. Ford International Airport. Dr. Terita Johnson described talent work spanning K–12 partnerships, a goal of 100 employer‑education partnerships and an intern connect program timed for a summer with about 600 interns expected.
The commission did not take formal action on data centers during the meeting; members said the conversation was timely as regional conversations about capacity and zoning continue.
The Right Place said it will update the data‑center site with firm commitments and additional sourcing as projects develop, and commissioners asked the organization to add clear citations, third‑party technical reviews and equity impact analysis to the public materials.
