RED OAK, Texas — A data center firm is taking a very different approach by integrating into the communities where they build the massive facilities needed to power Americans' technology and support the growing artificial intelligence (AI) boom.As these centers face flak over growing concerns of their impact on resources and infrastructure, Compass Datacenters CEO Chris Crosby tells Fox News Digital that it's up to companies like his to work with communities, identify local needs, plan improvements and invest in projects that benefit residents.And that's what he aimed to do from the start when building out a hyperscale data center campus in a town of approximately 20,000 people just 20 miles south of Dallas.Crosby detailed how he was able to create a data center with "no noise, no light pollution" and a completely water-free cooling system."Do you need a fire truck? Do you need a new school? Do you need baseball fields for your community?" Crosby proposed in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.
"These are important capital investments that can really boost a community, and many communities should be asking for those things."ONE SOUTHERN STATE’S RISE IS MAKING IT AMERICA’S NEW ‘ECONOMIC CENTER OF GRAVITY’Compass Datacenters CEO Chris Crosby speaks with Fox News Digital during an interview at the company’s Red Oak, Texas, campus on September 28, 2026.Crosby says developers should work with communities to address local needs as they build.
(Amanda Macias/Fox News Digital)"When you think about durability and putting a hundred year type asset into a community, you better do that really well and in conjunction with that community," he added.In Red Oak, Compass donated $15 million to build an animal shelter after the SPCA ended its contract in the town last year, Crosby said.His company also partnered with Texas State Technical College on a $12.6 million training facility to expand the school’s Mechanical, Electrical and IT Data Center Pathway progr...