Hey all,

I’m Kenton Hornbeck — the business editor at Middle Tech/LINK Media. Welcome back to The Build!

This week, I’m kicking off the newsletter with one of Kentucky’s largest data center projects—TeraWulf’s Justified Data Campus in Hawesville.

What I want to highlight, however, is the economic conditions that led to this project's development. Hawesville, a rural city along the Ohio River in western Kentucky, lost one of its largest employers when Century Aluminum shuttered its smelting facility in 2022.

The closure eliminated more than 600 jobs, leaving the sprawling industrial campus vacant. That presented an opportunity for TeraWulf, as the former aluminum smelter had the existing electrical infrastructure needed to support a large-scale data center.

Data center development has proved to be a polarizing topic in communities across the country. Supporters point to the potential for new investment and increased tax revenue, while critics raise concerns about electricity consumption and environmental impacts.

Hawesville, like other communities across the country selected for data center development, will serve as a case study in whether data centers can meaningfully replace the economic activity lost when major industrial employers shut down.

It's a question worth considering as Kentucky continues to attract billions of dollars in proposed data center investment.

Middle Tech will be following these developments every step of the way.

Data center developer TeraWulf has tapped construction giant Fluor Corporation to build three data center buildings in Hawesville, Kentucky, for AI company Anthropic.

The project will transform a shuttered aluminum smelter into a hyperscale data center, backed by a 20-year lease expected to generate $19 billion in revenue.

With construction underway and initial operations expected in 2027, the development marks another step in Kentucky’s growing role in the AI infrastructure boom.

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What started as two brothers-in-law struggling to find time to play golf has grown into Another Nine, a Northern Kentucky-based golf simulator franchise with more than 85 franchise deals signed.

Co-founders Ethan Grob and Brett Jewell joined Middle Tech to discuss how they built a network of private, 24/7 golf suites that operate without on-site staff.

Headquartered at Covington’s SparkHaus, Another Nine uses proprietary software and AI to manage locations remotely, offering a glimpse into how technology is reshaping the traditional franchise model.

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Four Kentucky business leaders were inducted into the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame during a Nov. 4 ceremony in Lexington.

The 2026 inductees reflected on their entrepreneurial journeys, sharing lessons on perseverance, sacrifice and the importance of giving back.

Their message: Success is measured not just by financial achievement, but by the lasting impact entrepreneurs have on their communities.

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Six student-led startups pitched medical innovations at LifeSciKY’s Student Bioinnovation Summit on Nov. 6 at Covington’s SparkHaus.

The $10,000 grand prize went to Project Clear, a University of Cincinnati team developing a disposable medical device designed to improve pelvic examinations.

Other entrepreneurs showcased innovations ranging from AI-powered diagnostic tools to medical devices designed to improve patient care, highlighting the next generation of Kentucky-area life sciences startups.

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