Dorsey Hager, secretario-tesorero ejecutivo del Consejo de Oficios de la Construcción de Columbus/Centro de Ohio, participó en el podcast America's Work Force Union, presentador Ed “Flash” Ferenc, el 4 de junio. Respondió con contundencia a la sorpresiva suspensión por parte del gobernador de Ohio, Mike DeWine, de la exención del impuesto sobre las ventas para los centros de datos en Ohio, ofreció una actualización alentadora sobre Intel y presentó los datos más recientes sobre la demanda récord de programas de aprendizaje en toda la región.
Governor DeWine pauses data center sales tax exemption: ‘came out of nowhere.’
Hager opened with comments on Gov. DeWine’s decision to suspend Ohio’s sales tax exemption on materials used to build data centers. He said the move blindsided the building trades and the broader economic development community.
The pause appeared to be a reactive, knee-jerk response to community pushback against data centers rather than a forward-thinking policy, he added. He contrasted it with approaches taken in other states, including energy and water-use reporting requirements, Community Benefit Agreements, economic development agreements and regulations governing energy sources. These are tools Ohio could have used instead of pausing the exemption, Hager said.
Hager also pushed back on the claim that the state lost $1.8 billion in tax revenue due to the exemption, arguing that the incentive generated a far larger economic return. He pointed to the three Google campuses in Central Ohio, which generated nearly $14 million in local income taxes alone in 2025 from 6.5 million man-hours worked by building trades members. He also highlighted the Asheville power center project, which is projected to generate $11 million to $13 million annually in energy taxes for the village — more than the village’s entire $8.5 million annual budget — from a single project.
He noted that many existing data center agreements — some locking in tax arrangements for up to 30 years — are already grandfathered, meaning the governor’s action has limited immediate impact on projects already in the pipeline. His deeper concern is the signal it sends to major developers like Aligned, Vantage and QTS, which has a proposed $12 billion data center complex in northwest Ohio. If those companies see Ohio as no longer open for business, it could trigger a tidal wave of projects moving to Virginia and other competing states, Hager said.
Hager also discussed his appearance on Fox Business News. A producer contacted him after comments he made to the Associated Press went national. He reiterated his comments that the data center boom is creating real, tangible middle-class careers — debt-free, six-figure paths for people coming out of high school or re-entering the workforce in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
Intel update: 1,600 on-site, Apple and Nvidia deals signal ramp-up to 4,000
Hager said approximately 1,600 building trades members are currently working at the Intel microchip manufacturing site in New Albany, with carpenters, pipefitters, electricians and ironworkers among the trades active as iron and steel for the fab plants continues to go vertical.
Recent developments have significantly improved the project’s outlook, he said. Intel’s stock has more than tripled over the last 36 months. The company has signed a major chip deal with Nvidia and has now also signed a deal to produce chips for Apple, the world’s single largest chip customer. General Contractor Bechtel has re-entered the supply chain for the highly specialized materials and equipment required for the fab facilities after stepping back earlier.
Hager said that if he were betting, he would project close to 4,000 tradespeople onsite by the end of 2027. The project is still targeting a 2031 opening, but he said the new Apple and Nvidia contracts could push Intel to try to accelerate that timeline. He added that with the breadth of other work across Central Ohio, the building trades council is not dependent on Intel alone. They can meet whatever ramp-up schedule Bechtel needs without putting all their eggs in one basket.
Apprenticeship demand at record levels, processing capacity expanding
Hager said apprenticeship applications are coming in at record numbers across Central Ohio building trades local unions, including IBEW Locals 683 and 1105, Iron Workers Local 172, Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 189 and Insulators Local 50. He said the challenge is now less about generating interest and more about processing the volume of applications. These affiliated Locals are adding staff and expanding training facilities to keep pace.
He referenced the successful IBEW Local 683 outreach event from the prior month, which drew more than 1,000 attendees, with 300 in line before the doors opened. Hager also noted a follow-up event at Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 189. The council is also planning a joint outreach event with the Ohio State Building Trades at the Ohio State Fair in July, where members will be meeting families to talk about careers in the building trades.
Following the podcast interview, Hager said he was heading next door to IBEW Local 683 to speak to approximately 200 high school guidance counselors. A sign, he said, that perceptions of careers in the building trades are shifting among the educators who advise young people every day.
Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin and the CBA Committee
Hager also highlighted a recent event with Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin, a longtime building trades ally whose brother Christian is an IBEW Local 683 member. He said Hardin has seen firsthand what a trade career can offer a family’s financial stability.
He credited Hardin and the city council’s Community Benefit Agreement Committee for generating billions of dollars in construction work. He also praised their efforts to create pathways for underserved community members — people of color, women, unemployed and underemployed workers and veterans — to access local union jobs and apprenticeship programs. Hardin, along with council members Nick Bankston, Lourdes Barroso de Padilla, Melissa Green and Nancy Day Albanese, face reelection next year.
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