MAYSVILLE, Ky. — Mason County has approved a development agreement with Meta for a planned hyperscale data center that county officials say will bring hundreds of permanent jobs and thousands of construction and trade jobs to the area.
The project is planned for more than 2,000 acres around Big Pond Pike.
County officials say the development is expected to employ more than 400 full-time workers once complete and create about 2,000 construction and trade jobs.
The agreement marks a major step forward for a project that Maysville-Mason County Economic Development Director Tyler McHugh has said could help generate renewed economic interest in the community.
“We see this as the domino that sort of gets more attention back to Mason County and Maysville,” McHugh said in an October 2025 interview with LEX 18.
At the time, McHugh said the area had not experienced the level of growth it saw decades ago.
“We haven’t had a ton of growth like we had, say, 20 to 30 years ago when we saw quite a big boom,” McHugh said.
McHugh said he hopes the Meta investment ultimately leads to “more industry and growth in the economy for Maysville and Mason County.”
Residents face displacement
The project has also brought significant concerns for people living near the proposed development.
Dozens of residents are expected to have to move following zoning approval for the project by Mason County Fiscal Court.
Among them is Pastor Greg Jones, a resident of Meadowland Village Trailer Park.
“That’s what makes it difficult. You come home one day and realize, man, you gotta move all this,” Jones told LEX 18 in March.
When LEX 18 visited the park, residents said they had been offered $20,000 buyouts. A few days later, neighbors told LEX 18 the park owner had increased the offers to $50,000.
We Are Mason County, a group opposing the development, had not released an official statement on the fiscal court's latest action.
Max Moran, the group's executive director, has pushed for more transparency regarding the project.
“I’m more on the side of caution than anything,” Moran said.
Janet Garrison, with We Are Mason County, told LEX 18 the group wanted to review the final agreement before commenting.
“We are still trying to get a copy of the final revenue agreement document before we can comment,” Garrison said.
LEX 18 reached out again to McHugh and Mason County Judge-Executive Owen McNeill but had not received additional comments.
McNeill has said the project's capital investment could potentially reach $800 billion over 40 years.
