One of the biggest drivers of this opportunity is the rapid growth of AI and the infrastructure that powers it. While most people think about AI as software, every AI system depends on massive facilities filled with electrical equipment that must be designed, installed, powered, and maintained by skilled electricians.<\/p>\n
The workers building these facilities aren\u2019t coming from somewhere else. They grew up here and are now raising families of their own. They stayed through years when steady work grew scarce, and some had little choice but to look elsewhere for opportunity.<\/p>\n
Now, the surge of AI infrastructure can rebuild our region, create lasting careers, and strengthen America\u2019s technological leadership at the same time.<\/p>\n
For our members, the difference is already clear. Construction work once came in short bursts. You finished one project, packed up your tools, and hoped the next one wasn\u2019t too far away. Today\u2019s infrastructure projects provide years of construction followed by decades of maintenance and upgrades, creating stable careers instead of temporary jobs.<\/p>\n
That opportunity is already taking shape here in northeastern Pennsylvania. More than 90% of the workers on our projects live in the communities we serve, in part because membership in IBEW Local 163 requires local residency. Today, most of our members are working on Amazon Web Services\u2019 campus in Salem Township, part of Amazon\u2019s $20 billion investment<\/a> in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n Those paychecks stay here in Pennsylvania. They support local restaurants, small businesses, and shops while helping families buy homes, plan for retirement and build lasting careers close to the people they love.<\/p>\n The demand for workers like ours is only growing. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment for electricians will grow 9% over the next decade, faster than the average for all occupations, with roughly 81,000 openings each year nationwide. As AI and cloud computing expand, so will the demand for the skilled workforce required to build and maintain their infrastructure.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania has an opportunity not only to attract these projects, but to become one of the nation\u2019s leading sources of highly skilled electrical workers.<\/p>\n The stakes extend far beyond Salem Township. America\u2019s ability to lead the next generation of AI innovation depends not only on the technology we develop, but on whether we can build the infrastructure to support it. China is investing aggressively<\/a> in AI infrastructure, and the United States cannot afford to fall behind. Pennsylvania is uniquely positioned to meet that challenge because we have both the workforce and the industrial expertise to get the job done.<\/p>\n These investments also deliver lasting benefits to the communities that host them. The Salem Township project alone is expected to generate up to $3 million<\/a> annually in property taxes for Luzerne County and the Berwick Area School District. Another project in the county is projected to bring in $14.6 million<\/a> over 20 years.<\/p>\n Other communities across the country have shown what\u2019s possible. In Loudoun County, Virginia, data centers now generate nearly half of the county\u2019s local tax revenue while returning roughly $26 in revenue for every $1 in county services they require.<\/p>\n
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