Two data center facilities are planned for Yadkinville, despite a recent county-wide moratorium on new data center development.
Yadkin County commissioners approved the two-year pause last Monday. That same day, AI infrastructure company WhiteFiber announced plans to acquire and retrofit warehouse spaces in Yadkinville for use as data centers.
County Manager Michael Silverman says the pause doesn't extend to sites within the town's limits.
"The moratorium only addresses the unincorporated areas of the county, which fall underneath our zoning areas," he says.
Jon Collins, with WhiteFiber subsidiary Enovum Data Centers, says that’s part of what attracted the company to the site. Its strategy is to buy existing warehouses and convert them into data centers for a few reasons.
“Number one, so an abandoned facility does not become a drag on the county or the community. Number two, so we don't have to greenfield anything," he says. "So we're not taking Bobby Baker's tobacco field and making a data center out of it.”
Collins says the plant will be modeled after WhiteFiber’s Madison facility, 55 miles from Yadkinville. The company is opening that center to Rockingham County residents Sept. 19 for a town hall meeting. Those interested must register online in advance.