Meta is accepting applications for a new program to distribute grants in communities where the company has a data center, including Aiken County. The Meta data center is under construction in the Sage Mill Industrial Park. Target completion is 2027.
The Future is for Everyone Fund will accept applications through Oct. 19th for proposals to address critical issues in each community where the data center is located.
Meta declined a request for an interview from ABD but provided the following statement.
“We created the Future is for Everyone Fund to benefit people in the places making the AI future possible – including in Aiken County. We know that communities know their needs best and we look forward to hearing from community leaders and working together to create customized investments and programs through this open call,” it read.
This replaces the company’s Data Center Community Action grants, through which more than a dozen Aiken County organizations received funds last year.
Among those selected was the Make Startups Institute, a partnership with MakeStartups, based in theClubhou.se at the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center (GCITC), the Aiken Chamber of Commerce and Western SC.
Eric Parker, co-founder of MakeStartups, told ABD they will apply for this new grant program.
“We’ve had a number of conversations with Meta’s local team about different programs and opportunities that we see, and so we’re hoping that we’ll be beneficiaries of this as well,” he said, adding that last year’s grant supported a virtual incubator program.
“It supported entrepreneurs throughout the CSRA, and especially focused in the Aiken area, but we’ve supported close to 40 entrepreneurs with that, and we’re forecasting more than $10 million in economic impact in the community through that support.”
Parker said this region has large companies, but only a few are focused on how technology fosters entrepreneurship. He said Meta’s arrival is changing that.
“Having Meta’s presence in our community is really helpful for the startup community to grow. And I think as data centers become more prevalent in this community, those opportunities are just going to increase for people who are trying to start their own business,” said Parker. “Almost every entrepreneur we work with is incorporating AI in some capacity at this point. Whether they’re using it to help them figure out how they want to market and sell their product, or whether they’re using it to actually help build a software application.”
Currently, MakeStartups is supporting entrepreneurs in metro Augusta’s three primary counties, with roughly one-third each in Richmond, Columbia and Aiken counties. He likened it to how construction of the Savannah River Plant in the 1950s spurred development across counties in Georgia and South Carolina.
Parker said he has been studying the relationship between the number of new business starts and the economic growth of a region.
“Starting in 2012, you can directly correlate the median household income growth of a community to the rate of new startup growth in that community,” he explained. “As we invest in more startups in our community, there’s a high degree of likelihood that that is going to be a direct driver of economic growth in our community, which means investment into the arts, investment into broader issues around our community, the ability to have the resources to fix up downtown blight, to improve the quality of life for everyone here.”
Meta named four focus areas reflecting local priorities that grant applications should address:
- Community Enhancement
- Economic Vitality
- Education
- Sustainability
Applications can be submitted at: www.changex.org/funds/Meta-AikenDataCenter
Additional information about The Future is for Everyone at: www.datacenters.atmeta.com/the-future-is-for-everyone-fund/
