Demonstrating the local benefits of AI infrastructure in Wisconsin
01.07.2026 - 06:54
Mandala's latest research, prepared for Microsoft, examines the economic impact of hyperscale data center investment on Wisconsin's communities, businesses, and workforce. The research finds that committed data center projects will channel $16.5 billion to local suppliers, support more than 9,000 jobs during construction, and generate lasting economic activity across every county in the state, thereby extending Wisconsin's long tradition of industrial leadership into the AI era.
Datacenters are the essential infrastructure of the AI economy, as foundational to today's growth as railroads were in the 19th century and the internet was in the late 20th. Mandala's research examines how Wisconsin is positioned to capture the economic benefits of this new investment wave, drawing on novel analysis of Microsoft's supply chain data alongside broader modelling of committed hyperscale projects.
Major hyperscalers, including Microsoft, Meta, and the Oracle-Vantage Stargate consortium, are projected to invest an estimated $13.3 billion to build new AI and commercial cloud datacenters across the State. Total capital expenditure, including indirect supply chain effects, reaches $16.5 billion: nearly ten times the value of the I-94 expansion project.
During construction, this investment is projected to support 9,420 jobs per year, including more than 6,000 construction workers and over 1,800 workers across the wider supplier network. Once operational, Wisconsin's datacenters will sustain 5,970 ongoing jobs, with 1,850 employed directly on-site.
The local reach of this investment is visible in granular detail through Mandala's analysis of Microsoft's Fairwater Campus supply chain. Microsoft has directly purchased from 29 businesses spanning 11 Wisconsin counties, with $1.1 billion channeled to Outagamie County alone (Outagamie is home to major construction contractors and steel fabricators). A further $210 million has flowed to steel fabrication in Marathon County, $30 million to electrical equipment manufacturing in Rock County, and significant activity to Columbia and La Crosse counties. Beyond these direct impacts, the campus has generated indirect economic activity across every county in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin can seize even greater economic opportunities as potential future investments like Microsoft's Mount Pleasant Expansion, Viridian's Janesville Campus, and the Menomonie Datacenter proceed, with the State's manufacturing expertise and skilled workforce continuing to attract inbound investment.
Read the full report here.
Read our latest posts
Demonstrating the local benefits of AI infrastructure in Wisconsin
Mandala's latest research, prepared for Microsoft, examines the economic impact of hyperscale data center investment on Wisconsin's communities, businesses, and workforce. The research finds that committed data center projects will channel $16.5 billion to local suppliers, support more than 9,000 jobs during construction, and generate lasting economic activity across every county in the state, thereby extending Wisconsin's long tradition of industrial leadership into the AI era.
1 Jul, 2026
The essential infrastructure: How Australian banks power the economy
Mandala's latest research, prepared for the Australian Banking Association, examines the often-hidden role Australian banks play in supporting households, businesses and the broader economy. The research finds that banks are deeply embedded in the financial lives of Australians - as lenders, as community investors, through the jobs they generate and increasingly as assets owned by Australians themselves through shares and superannuation. From financing homes and small businesses to supporting regional communities through hardship and disaster, the report builds a picture of a sector whose success is broadly shared across the Australian population.
17 Jun, 2026
The threat of climate change to the US insurance industry
This joint report by the Coalition for an Insurable Future and Mandala Partners examines how climate change is undermining the stability of the US home insurance market. Homeowners insurance premiums have risen 38% since 2021, outpacing both inflation and wage growth, while 1 in 7 owner-occupied homes are now uninsured. Climate risk could push national premiums 35–107% higher by 2050, leave an additional 1.5–2.5 million households without cover by 2035, and cost the broader economy $1 trillion. The aggregate cost could rise to over $3 trillion by 2050. A preliminary assessment of state-level policy responses across California, Florida, Louisiana, New York and Colorado finds that effectiveness is mixed, and that the burden of costs falls primarily on homeowners, insurers and taxpayers, rather than on the sources of the underlying climate risk.
10 Jun, 2026
Surf, Shop, Save 2.0: How online retail is helping ease cost-of-living pressures in Australia
Mandala's latest research, commissioned by Amazon, examines how online channels are easing cost-of-living pressures for Australian households. The research analysed the prices of more than 95,000 products sold through online channels, constructing an Online Channel Index (OCI) to track how online prices have moved since 2019. The OCI has deflated 6 percentage points over that period, while the comparable CPI basket has risen 8 percentage points, a reflection of the competition and efficiency effects that online channels bring to the broader retail market. These effects are expected to save the average household $1,414 in 2026, roughly six weeks of grocery spending, with total savings of $7,766 since 2019. Lower-income households gain the most as a share of income. Online sales now account for 12 per cent of Australian retail, and some of the country's largest retailers are also leading omnichannel players.
22 May, 2026