On September 8, Chillicothe City Council hosted a public review meeting to hear directly from Alignment Engine, the Ohio-based company proposing a data hall and electronics manufacturing operation inside the former Pixelle paper mill. For nearly two hours, residents, council members, and company representatives worked through questions on jobs, water, power, noise, and community trust. 

^{Here's what I took away from the evening — and why it matters for Ross County's business community.}

The Basics: What's Actually Being Proposed

Alignment Engine, headquartered in North Canton, Ohio, is not building a new facility from the ground up. The company is leasing roughly 6.5 acres of the 490-acre (less than 2% of the former Pixelle site) — now owned by US Paper Mill — to install a "data hall" (a server room, not a standalone data center building) alongside a circuit-board manufacturing line. That manufacturing side is real, physical work: taking bare circuit boards, installing microchips and heat sinks, and assembling components used in telecom, storage, and computing networks nationwide.

In plain terms, the computing capacity created here would run everyday business software — customer service systems, freight and logistics planning, invoice processing — for companies across the country. It's infrastructure, not something mysterious.

The Numbers That Matter Most

Chief Technology Officer David Stanfill walked the room through specific figures:

• Jobs: 73 positions currently posted, representing 240 permanent jobs as the project ramps up, with pay ranging from roughly $42,000 to six figures. If additional manufacturers join the broader campus, the company projects the total could grow beyond 1,000 jobs. According to the jobs posted to Alignment Engine's Careers page, the jobs will be "on site" in Chillicothe.
• Power: The mill's own turbine generator could supply up to 89 megawatts at full operation — close to the historical usage of the paper mill itself — without drawing from the city's grid.
• Water: At capacity, the project would use about 28 million gallons a day, matching the legacy mill's historical use, drawn from the mill's own wells rather than city drinking water, and returned through the mill's existing treatment plant.
• Noise: Cooling equipment is projected to add roughly 35 decibels at the nearest home — below the area's current ambient noise level of 55 decibels with the mill idle.
• Taxes: No property tax abatements have been requested, and the company committed to putting that in writing if asked.

The Questions Residents Kept Asking

Across dozens of speakers, three concerns came up again and again:

Will promises be enforceable? Multiple residents and even a council candidate pressed for a binding, publicly available development agreement — not just verbal assurances — that caps power, water, and noise unless council approves changes.

Is the water system truly safe? Questions focused on how a "closed loop" cooling system still draws from an outside well and creek source, and what happens to that safeguard during a drought.

Are the jobs real, local, and lasting? Residents wanted clarity on how many positions would go to local hires, whether they'd be union jobs, and whether 240 is a solid number or an early estimate.

A Process Still in Motion

It's worth noting this was a public review meeting, not a final vote. City Council's Engineering Committee — which has been studying data center policy under a 60-day moratorium since late August — will continue that work, and any formal agreement will go through the normal legislative process, with more opportunities for public input along the way.

Update: Since this piece was first published, City Council voted to lift the 60-day moratorium — see another post for the latest.

Why the Chamber Is Paying Attention

Ross County's economic future depends on making smart, well-informed decisions about projects like this one. Whatever direction this particular proposal takes, the underlying questions — about jobs, infrastructure reuse, and community trust — are exactly the kind of conversations that help Ross County grow the right way. We'll continue tracking this process and sharing what we learn with our investors.

Have questions about how this project could affect your business? Reach out to the Chamber office — we're here to help you stay informed.