In the race to build data centers across Arkansas, the Google campus at West Memphis has taken the lead. Google is already hiring electrical engineers and facilities technicians.

I spent several days in West Memphis last summer to report on the amazing economic developments in Crittenden County. Those developments include the explosive growth of Southland Casino, a future Buc-ee’s location adjacent to Interstate 40, and a future water park and hotel complex known as Epic Resort. But even though an official announcement had not been made, city and county officials couldn’t help talking off the record about Google.

That announcement came in October when Google officials confirmed that they will spend $4 billion through the end of 2027. At the time, it was the largest private investment announcement in Arkansas history. The biggest previous capital investment was $3 billion spent on the recently completed Big River Steel II plant in south Mississippi County.

West Memphis Mayor Marco McClendon believes the total investment by Google could wind up being $7 billion to $10 billion. McClendon said the first phase of the campus will employ about 300 people, with thousands working at the site at the peak of construction.

McClendon said property taxes on the site will produce millions of dollars per year for the West Memphis School District.

The project is being built on an 1,100-acre tract and is expected to take between 18 and 24 months to complete. The campus will include data center structures, office buildings, a power substation, and other infrastructure. In partnership with Entergy Corp., Google will cover the costs associated with powering the facilty. Laura Landreaux, president and CEO of Entergy Arkansas, said the project will “stimulate economic growth in northeast Arkansas and across the state.”

“This project is more than just jobs, buildings and technology,” McClendon said. “It’s about the future of our city, opportunity, investment and education.”

Laurel Brown, regional head of data center public affairs at Google, said: “We’re also working together to bring solar energy and battery storage resources online. We’ll integrate innovative load flexibility into our power contract to reduce our usage during times when the grid is constrained.”

Google plans to invest $25 million to implement energy efficiency initiatives in this part of the Arkansas Delta. McClendon promises that there will be more announcements regarding what he calls a “community development agreement” between Google and the city. The energy efficiency program will focus on home weatherization, efficiency technology, and energy workforce development.

Google also announced that the University of Arkansas and Arkansas State University will be among the first cohort of what’s known as Google AI for Education Accelerators. Students, faculty and staff will be given access at no cost to Google career certificates and AI training classes.

The West Memphis project, however, didn’t stay atop the list of largest announced capital investments for long.

We learned in January that AVAIO Digital Partners of Connecticut will build a $6 billion facility just south of Little Rock. The 760-acre tract is north of 145th Street and west of Wrightsville. AVAIO officials said the cost could grow to more than $21 billion (think of the tax revenue a project that size could bring) if all elements are added. AVAIO officials said the user of the site will hire more than 500 employees during the next five years.

Sydney Sasser wrote in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: “The center will be designed to host the computing, networking and data storage technologies (and the power infrastructure) that underpin cloud computing and artificial intelligence applications. … AVAIO plans to lease space in the data center to other data companies.”

“It’s our intention that this extraordinary site in the Little Rock area will be both a major pole of data center capacity and an engine of sustained economic and technological momentum for Arkansas,” said Mark McComiskey, the AVAIO CEO.

As is the case in West Memphis, Entergy will supply power for the AVAIO campus.

Just two days after the AVAIO announcement, the Democrat-Gazette reported that Google is the company developing a data center at the nearby Port of Little Rock. Google had yet to announce its involvement in the project. Google is also expected to construct a data center at Conway.

A document that was later submitted by Google to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the campus at the Port of Little Rock will consist of five industrial buildings totaling 1.43 million square feet, two office buildings and an electrical substation.

“Google’s center will also contain transmission lines, a sewer lift station and a parking lot,” Lucas Dufalla wrote in the Democrat-Gazette. “Construction will involve filling about 16.8 acres of wetlands. Google plans to purchase wetland mitigation credits as an offset, according to the application.”

A revised public notice posted by the Corps said the data center at the port will “likely draw more than 100 megawatts of power.”

So we know Google will have at least three data center campuses in Arkansas–at West Memphis, Little Rock, and Conway. What we don’t know is how many billions of dollars Google eventually will invest in the state.

“Google is investing in the next generation of AI innovation in Arkansas and across the country,” said Ruth Porat, the company’s president and chief investment officer. “We see AI and the energy powering it to be the innovations that will define this century. The upside of AI cannot be unlocked without the energy it requires. That’s why Google is building energy capacity that protects affordability for ratepayers and creates jobs that will drive the AI-powered economy.”

Entergy’s Landreaux described the partnership between Google and Entergy as “a turning point for our state.”

In Clarksville, meanwhile, Serverfarm, a data center developer based in Los Angeles, has plans for a 135-acre campus. The project, located north of Interstate 40, could cost $8 billion with six buildings covering 2.16 million square feet. The land was acquired last October. It was then rezoned from rural to industrial use. The project is expected to be built in three phases. It’s not clear how much the first phase will cost.

Serverfarm is building data center projects around the world. It’s owned by Manulife, the largest insurance company in Canada and one of the 30 largest fund managers in the world.

In southwest Arkansas, the Economic Development Corp. of Clark County voted last month to sell the 991-acre Southwest Arkansas Mega Site south of Arkadelphia to an unnamed buyer for a data center campus. Members of the board were told that the buyer would make a minimum investment of $1 billion.

Shelley Short, CEO of the Arkadelphia Regional Economic Development Alliance, said: “I’m incredibly excited, but we’ll have to be patient.”

The deal, however, quickly fell through. The Southwest Arkansas Mega Site is back on the market.

During last year’s legislative session, lawmakers changed the definition of data center projects that qualify for tax breaks. Act 548 added to the definition of a “qualified investment” to include a “qualified large data center” that can be but isn’t limited to “nonadjacent physical locations that are connected to each other by fiber and associated equipment.”

Rex Nelson is a senior editor at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Oklahoma put their best foot forward in the second game of their three-game series against No. 17 Arkansas. A great effort was undone by a late eighth inning collapse.

After getting run ruled in the first game on Friday, OU responded with gritty play but fell 12-8 in a loss to Arkansas, dropping the series. The No. 24 Sooners gave their best effort from the mound and the plate, but couldn’t overcome mistakes.

Cameron Johnson had a day he’d like to forget. Only 2.1 innings of play with three strike outs and four runs off two hits. Despite the lackadaisical play from the mound, OU was able to rebound with hitting and pitching from the bullpen.

Deiten LaChance got things rolling with a single shot in the first inning with two outs. The momentum was short lived as the Razorbacks came to life at the plate.

A single home run and a two-run home run took the lead back for the home team in the second inning. Johnson lost a bit of control from the mound and Arkansas took advantage.

Oklahoma was able to regain control in the third when Camden Johnson grounded out with one out, but Connor Larkin was able to score to cut the Razorback lead at 3-2. OU would have a runner at third but Jaxon Willits flied out to center field to end the Sooners’ chances at tying the game.

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Oklahoma continued to fight despite Arkansas taking advantage of Sooner mistakes.

A fielder’s choice in the third inning increased the Razorback lead to 4-2 — but OU would answer in the fourth.

Dasan Harris hit a solo home run in the fourth with nobody on and two outs, the second time the Sooners were able to salvage a situation with a run. The inning ended shortly thereafter, denying OU the chance to tie.

Another fielder’s choice resulted in a Razorback run to round out the fourth inning. At 5-3, it seemed like anything Oklahoma would do, Arkansas would answer right back.

OU was able to navigate out of a sticky situation in the fifth with runners in scoring position. Xander Mercurius and Kadyn Leon were able to strike out two Razorback betters to keep the score at 5-3.

But just when it seemed like things were going the way of the home team, Kyle Branch — one of the more clutch player in the lineup — hit a two-run homer in the sixth, scoring Harris to tie the game at five a piece.

It was LaChance again in the seventh inning, this time a double into right center — Johnson and Jason Walk scored to put the Sooners ahead for good. At 7-5, OU had the wind at their backs.

Harris had it going once againt to give the Sooners insurance in the eighth. Heading to the plate to lead off, Harris hammered a solo shot into right field to increase the lead to 8-5 in favor of Oklahoma. From there, OU went 1-2-3, but the damage was done.

Kuhio Aloy was able to cut into the Sooner lead in the bottom of the eighth with an error on Willits, scoring a Razorback runner.

Arkansas wasn’t done. Two back-to-back RBIs tied the game at eight a piece. Seven hits, six runs in total in the eighth doomed Oklahoma.

Oklahoma and Arkansas will meet for the third game tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.

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CONWAY, Ark. – Three months after Friends of Arkansas PBS formed to try to preserve PBS programming in the Natural State, it now looks like a legitimate possibility. After a whirlwind few months, Carlton Wing, CEO & Executive Director of Arkansas TV, is ready for any outcome.

Wing, since taking over the role around six months ago, has spearheaded a rebrand and the disaffiliation from PBS, which was set to take place at the end of June.

The dues cost Arkansas TV $2.5 million a year, and with that cost, they felt they couldn’t stay afloat after federal funding cuts, while retaining PBS programming.

In turn, they became the first state to say they’d end the partnership.

“Whatever politics happened, happened way above us in Washington D.C., we have to deal with the financial realities of how we keep public television alive,” Wing said.

He said they immediately entered into emergency budgeting, attempting to get the network out of the red. A grim financial outlook at the time from his perspective.

“The financial realities are there, and we have to deal with that financial reality regardless of one of our providers of public television content,” Wing said.

When the announcement gained traction, a group, spearheaded by former first ladies of Arkansas Barbara Pryor and Gay White, formed to try and keep PBS alive.

“We recognize that there’s a lot of emotions tied to anything that we like,” Wing said.

Friends of Arkansas PBS gained enough eyeballs to bring top PBS executives, including CEO Paula Kerger, to the state.

“Well, you have to understand what they’re doing when they come is they’re trying to protect that paycheck that has come from Arkansas for decades now,” Wing said.

The momentum was enough to get the Arkansas Public Television Commission to vote to pause the disaffiliation until their next quarterly meeting, creating a window for funds to be raised in the meantime.

Since a pledge of $1 million a year for the next three years coming from an anonymous donor, along with the Arkansas TV Foundation creating a separate dues fund, that’s allowed them to commit to $1.5 million a year as well over the next three.

While Wing has helped the station plan to increase local programming from 5% to 30%, that won’t change, but things may have to be arranged now that they’re closing in on the funds needed to retain PBS.

“People recognized this is a very real situation and stepped up to be able to make that happen. We’re not quite there yet, but everything is heading in the right direction. There’s still money that needs to be raised,” Wing said.

He has maintained his stance throughout, while conversations may be political above him, this decision is strictly fiscal on his and the station’s end.

“I have said many times that people have tried to make this a red vs blue issue. It’s all about green and about whether you operate in the black or red,” Wing said.

Wing has said that despite being painted as his opposition, his relationship with Pryor and White is far from that.

“My wife and I went and had lunch with them just a couple of weeks ago, and they’re so excited to be involved with a cause,” Wing said.

He was also adamant that he doesn’t have some form of vendetta against PBS; in fact, it’s played a pivotal role in helping his own daughter, who’s set to graduate with an MBA from the University of Chicago soon.

“PBS played a very vital role in her enthusiastically learning how to read. Yes we absolutely want that, we just have to be able to afford it because I can’t jeopardize the whole network to be able to pay for one provider of public television,” Wing said.

Still, the commission would need to vote to approve resuming the partnership, a vote that would be held at the next quarterly meeting on June 4th.

“I’m hesitant to predict because I don’t know what’s going to happen between now and that meeting,” Wing said on the vote.