By Steph Quinn (Missouri Independent), Steph Quinn, Missouri Independent
Publication Date: 2026-05-22 13:09:00
A $5 million federal pandemic recovery grant helped Montgomery County prepare a rural industrial site along Interstate 70 for major development. Two years later, Amazon and Google are building data centers on nearly 2,000 acres near New Florence — and local officials are preparing to offer Google a 70% personal property tax abatement.
Google announced Wednesday that it will invest $15 billion in a data center south of the highway, joining an Amazon Data Services project already underway north of I-70. Supporters say the projects will bring construction jobs, permanent positions and millions in annual tax revenue to a county where many residents commute east for work.
But as the projects move forward, some Montgomery County residents say they were excluded from discussions that should have happened in public. Key details about Google’s tax agreement — including how much revenue the county would collect and how much it would forgo — won’t be discussed until a June 8 hearing.
