By the Arkansas Black Vitality Staff

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Feb. 10, 2026 – Only months between securing the two largest multi-billion-dollar super-projects in the state’s history, Wall Street analysts and technology experts say the pipeline of new AI data center investments is just getting started, and the Natural State is positioned to see significant economic benefits in the coming years.

After announcing two economic development projects totaling well over $10 billion from Silicon Valley titan Google Inc. and little-known, East Coast private equity-based Avaio Digital in October and January, respectively, Gov. Sarah Sanders believes the best is yet to come.

Just weeks ago, Sanders received her first comprehensive report from the state’s AI and Analytics Center of Excellence outlining recommended policies to support the efficient, secure, and responsible adoption of AI across the Arkansas state government.

“AI is changing how we work, interact, and find information – and Arkansas can’t afford to be left behind,” said Sanders.

Launched in June of 2024 to study and offer recommendations for the safe use of artificial intelligence within Arkansas state government, the state’s AI Center of Excellence focuses on protecting data, improving government services, and preparing Arkansas for the future of artificial intelligence in government and the workforce.

Amid the state-backed AI study, Sanders and the GOP majority in the Arkansas legislature also pushed through a gaggle of private-sector-backed laws called IMPACT during the 2025 legislative session, which have opened the floodgates for the largest round of economic projects in the state’s history.

This legislative package includes the Generating Arkansas Jobs Act of 2025 (Act 373), which allows utility companies to make strategic infrastructure investments, and Act 548, a sales and use tax exemption for industrial data centers. IMPACT legislation also reduced the permitting time for new energy projects from 12 to 18 months to six months.

Only months after these bills were enacted into law,  Google announced a new $4 billion investment in Arkansas through 2027, including the West Coast tech giant’s first data center in the state — located in West Memphis. Along with cloud and AI infrastructure, and local programs to boost energy resilience and affordability for residents, this new data center will generate hundreds of operational jobs and thousands of construction jobs in the region, company officials said.

Due to the sheer breadth of the project, West Memphis officials are partnering with Winrock International to help the city translate Google’s recent $4 billion data center investments into long-term, community transformation, job creation and economic growth.

State economic development officials told Arkansas Black Vitality that the $6 billion Avaio AI project and the West Memphis data center are the two largest capital investments in state history. The West Memphis Google hub is expected to employ 750 people annually during construction and create 250 permanent, high-paying jobs upon completion.

Winrock officials stated they will provide tailored support in community engagement, project pipeline development, and research on innovative strategies from cities across the U.S. that are part of the data center boom, recognizing the transformative potential of this new industry.

Over the next three years, Winrock plans to work with West Memphis city leaders and local stakeholders to strategically prioritize, plan, and implement community development initiatives that leverage this historic investment. The collaboration aligns with goals outlined in the GROW West Memphis 2040 plan, which has identified several residential and commercial areas for development.

“Google’s decision to invest billions of dollars proves that our city is ready to lead in the AI and digital economy,” said West Memphis Mayor Marco McClendon. “This project is about more than buildings and technology; it’s about opportunity and a better future for our people.”

Winrock’s Human & Community Development team is leading the project, building on the organization’s deep experience in rural community development and place-based planning throughout Arkansas — including efforts in the Arkansas Delta, the Ozarks, and communities like Camden, Lewisville, Stuttgart and Helena-West Helena.

“This opportunity sets the stage for generational change,” said Elizabeth Gomez, Winrock’s associate director of Human & Community Development. “We’re working hand in hand with the people of West Memphis to shape a vision for the future that reflects local priorities and ensures that this investment strengthens the city’s social fabric, economy and sense of place for years to come.” 

With the newness of the Google project not yet worn off, Stamford, Conn.-based Avaio Digital Partners announced a major new data center hub in Pulaski County that will eclipse the West Memphis project in capital investment.

Named after the constellation Leo — the Lion — symbolizing strength, power, and leadership, the 760-acre campus in xxxx will help accelerate the state’s rapidly growing tech sector, Avaio officials. Once complete, the sprawling AI campus will house computing, networking, data storage, and power infrastructure that support cloud computing and artificial intelligence applications, company officials said.

 The campus will be built out in multiple phases with an initial $6 billion combined investment from AVAIO and its customers in infrastructure, power and tenant deployments over the course of the project.

“It is 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, CEO of AVAIO Digital.

According to state Commerce Department officials, the initial $6 billion investment by AVAIO and its partners during the first phase of the project will be the largest in state history, ahead of Google’s $4 billion and nearly tripling the $2.1 billion price tag for the Big River I and II project that has brought over 16,000 jobs to Mississippi County and northeast Arkansas.

The new data center campus is expected to generate over 500 full-time, permanent operations jobs within the next five years as it is developed. Additionally, the construction phase will create thousands of new jobs in the region, according to company officials. Altogether, project will bring over $21 billion in development investment to Pulaski County.

According to the American Edge Project, AI is a powerful magnet for private capital in all 50 states. In the first eight months of 2025 alone, AI attracted $144.9 billion across nearly 3,400 deals – representing more than one-third of all U.S. VC activity and nearly two-thirds of total deal value.

At the end of 2025, Virginia ranked as the leading data center market in the U.S. and worldwide, hosting over 660 active facilities with nearly 600 more planned. This expansion will create 1 million temporary jobs and 150,000 permanent jobs, while generating $4 billion in taxes over a decade.

While the Google and Avaio projects have placed Arkansas in the discussion of tech-driven data centers, the state still lags behind the rest of the country in the number of projects and investment. With only seven data centers operational and just seven projects in the pipeline, Arkansas ranked 37^th out of the 40 states with active or planned developments in 2025.

However, that could be changing dramatically now that the Avaio and Google deal has opened the door for other projects, albeit smaller. For example, the Conway City Council approved a memorandum of understanding with Forgelight Ventures in April on behalf of an unnamed Fortune 100 company to build a new $1 billion, 300,000-square-foot data center in southwest Conway. 

That same month, the Little Rock City Board of Directors approved a resolution allowing Mayor Frank Scott to sign a memorandum of understanding with Willowbend Capital LLC for a $1 billion data center to be built and operated at the Little Rock Port. That deal, which city officials predicted would be “a significant driver of economic development in the region,” isexpected to create 50 jobs, serve as a tech hub, and attract additional investment to central Arkansas.

Although the Little Rock data center has been associated with Google, few details have been disclosed about the investor. Additionally, the memorandum of understanding closely resembles that of the Conway project, leading some local economic development officials to suspect that the unknown investor is encouraging both cities to compete for a better deal, favorable terms, and more attractive financial and tax incentives.