Lake County’s decision in February to reinforce its commitment to project labor agreements reflects something important about Northwest Indiana. Our community understands that when major investment arrives, local labor and local business must stay front and center.
Today, we’re on the cusp of the largest wave of capital investment the Region has seen in years. Significant data center development is poised to redefine what economic growth looks like for our communities – and if we seize the opportunity, we have a chance to strengthen the skilled trades and lift the entire economy.
For construction industry professionals, data centers represent much more than one-off projects; they are long-term investments in workforce development, wealth creation and community improvement. The facilities themselves are highly sophisticated, enlisting thousands of advanced engineering professionals and skilled tradesmen to pour concrete, erect structural steel, wire complex electrical systems, install advanced cooling infrastructure and integrate highly specialized equipment. These employees aren’t Silicon Valley explants – they are honest, blue-collar Hoosiers with deep roots in the Region.
Data center projects offer the steady, well-paying work our men and women have been waiting for. Thanks to project labor agreements and union-negotiated contracts, wages are competitive across the Northwest Indiana trades, ranging from $30 an hour for a journeyman laborer to roughly $55 an hour for an operating engineer. Add in fringe benefits, and these crafts earn a total wage package around $60 to $90 an hour.
These are well-earned, comfortable wages. But the demand data centers create for this kind of skilled labor will only turbocharge earning potential, helping revive the skilled trades after decades of factory offshoring and steel plant closures left our men and women hurting. For Northwest Indiana’s 20,000 union craft workers, this extra take-home pay is the difference between living paycheck to paycheck and building generational wealth.
And this growth shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, new national data estimates the construction industry will need half a million new workers next year in a hiring rebound largely driven by data center growth. We know from other studies that each one of these direct job opportunities in the data center industry supports, on average, 7.4 more jobs in related fields like IT, data science and engineering.
By locating these projects here in Northwest Indiana, we can ensure as many of these jobs as possible belong to Hoosiers. We’ve all seen the headlines: multi-billion-dollar projects offering salaries well into the six-figure range. But for The Region, these aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet. Higher wages translate directly into stronger local spending, increased homeownership, and greater economic stability for families across our seven counties.
As a region, we are well-positioned to lead in this next phase of growth. Northwest Indiana has a deep bench of skilled trades professionals, strong labor-management partnerships, established transportation infrastructure, and a legacy of industrial excellence. Data center infrastructure development builds upon these strengths.
The good news is, we’ve done this before: Northwest Indiana led the nation in steel, refining, and manufacturing for decades. Now, we have a chance to take the torch back up and embrace the economic potential in front of us.
The opportunity before us is substantial. These projects represent capital investment, career pathways in skilled trades, and long-term economic momentum. With thoughtful planning, workforce development, and community engagement, data centers will power paychecks, opportunity and a new era of prosperity for Northwest Indiana.
Dewey Pearman has served as executive director of the Construction Advancement Foundation (CAF) of Northwest Indiana since 1995.
