SUNLAND PARK, NEW MEXICO (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 A proposed data center project that supporters describe as an economic opportunity drew both job seekers and protesters Wednesday evening as Project Jupiter held its first public open house and career fair at the Sunland Park Sports Complex.<\/p>\n
Residents from across southern New Mexico and El Paso packed the event, where food trucks, family activities, and informational booths were set up for community members to learn more about the project and potential employment opportunities tied to it.<\/p>\n
RELATED: Project Jupiter expands bilingual outreach at open house set; protest also planned<\/a><\/p>\n Beatrice Fallon, Oracle\u2019s community relations representative, said the goal was to hear directly from residents. <\/p>\n \u201cMost importantly, we are here to listen. We want to engage directly with the community, hear about what opportunities we have to partner together,\u201d Fallon said.<\/p>\n Fallon said partners were present to discuss topics including energy plans and water use.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we\u2019ve got a number of our partners here to talk about everything from our plans related to energy, our responsible water stewardship, and then we\u2019ve got our trade partners talking about construction, electricity, and other trade opportunities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Companies including Oracle, OpenAI, Stack Infrastructure and Bloom Energy were on hand to answer questions about the proposed project, its impact on the region and the jobs it could bring.<\/p>\n Outside the event, dozens of protesters gathered to raise concerns about water use, environmental impacts and transparency, including potential effects on water resources, air quality and long-term growth in the Borderland.<\/p>\n Annie Ersinghaus, who is against Project Jupiter, said the community still lacks key information. \u201cWe still have very little information and the community was steamrolled and that\u2019s the biggest issue here,\u201d Ersinghaus said.<\/p>\n Ersinghaus also questioned whether job promises outweigh potential costs. <\/p>\n \u201cSo no matter the jobs, no matter what promises come from this, and that\u2019s what they are promises. It is coming at the cost of our futures, our water, our land, and so even if you were to get a job, and even if that\u2019s temporary, and not promised again, that is nothing compared to the cost of our futures,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Inside, some attendees said they came specifically to explore career paths.<\/p>\n Eric Guzman, a community member who said he recently graduated from UTEP with electrical engineering, said he attended to look for opportunities. <\/p>\n \u201cThe reason why I came to come out and do the project is that I just graduated from UTEP with electrical engineering. I thought this would be an opportunity to resource and see what opportunities I could find, especially here in big tech companies, open a G-card, especially open AI\u2019s here and then, um, I think that would be something like stack infrastructure,\u201d Guzman said.<\/p>\n