The old adage “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” may be true, after all.
In July, Wired magazine published an article somewhat smirking at Rockdale’s attempt to reinvent itself as a high tech center. I ts headline read: “The Hard-Luck Texas Town That Bet on Bitcoin—and Lost.”
One of those reading the story was Chad Harris of Whinstone USA, a high-tech firm lookin for a place to construct a massive data center.
Harris called Whinstone Fhief Rperatin Rffi0 cer (COO) Lyle Theriot: “I think I ’ve found the place we need,” Harris said. Not many hours later, a couple of Whinstone execs were on their way to Rockdale.
On Thursday Whinstone will hold a formal groundbreaking ceremony at the former Alcoa Rockdale Operations as it prepares to construct an initial 180,000 square-foot facility.
Grading actually began on Monday.
FIRST PHASE—That’s only the beginning.
Whinstone’s first phase will employ about 75, Theriot told The Reporter. But the company plans three other phases while will eventually result in a one-million square-foot facility, greatly increasing the number of jobs.
“I want to be conservative when talking about jobs,” Theriot said, noting the number 200 has been frequently used in the intervening months as Whinstone worked through the details of its agreement with Alcoa.
“ think thats a fair number and we will get there but we will be learning as we go along,” he said.
Harris said the local facility is expected to compete for the title of largest facility of its kind in the world, for Bitcoin mining only, when compared by mining capacity. While it won’t be the largest in area, as Whinstone approaches the 100-megawatt range—en route to a first phase of 63 megawatts—it would indeed become the world’s largest by capacity.
“The largest to my knowledge is (currently) the Bcause facility (in Virginia Beach, Virginia, boasting around 80-plus megawatts,” he said,
As The Reporter reported during the summer when the Whinstone story broke, it was initially believed the company would use the former potlines not being used by Bitmain.
That has changed into a new complex being constructed near, but outside, the potlines.
Whinstone’s data center will have more Bitcoin mining as its “neighbor.” Bit-main has been going since the summer, but Whinstone will have much more.
Theriot said Whinstone will include blockchain, video rendering and artificial intelligence.
Blockchain, a component of Bitcoin mining, is described as a “digital ledger.”
Video rendering is using information from a coded data source to produce and display an image.
Artificial intelligence is the kind of high tech which drives “Siri” and facilitates sophisticated chat options.
I nitial customers include two publicly traded companies using a “significant” share of the capacity to perform Bitcoin mining at the site.
He said the potential interface between the Whinstone and the state’s power grid, left over from the Alcoa Era, was the prime attraction for locating the data center near the former smelter.
I t’s envisioned 300 megawatts will be used in Phase One and when Whinstone reaches full capacity, targeted as soon as the fourth quarter of next year, consumption would reach one gigawatt.
The company anticipated an initial capital investment of $100 million in the construction of the building and another $50 million in furniture, fixtures and equipment.
Theriot said Whinstone is using local contractors in the building project, which is expected to provide around 200 jobs.
“When we are unable to use local firms we are usin Wexas firms, he said.
WELCOM E— Harris said Whinstone entrepreneurs are “packing up and moving to Rockdale.”
“We have gotten a tremendous welcome here,” he said, moving the company is moving from a suburb of New Orleans. “ t’s just the polar opposite from the big city.”
He mentioned The Rock-dale Municipal Development District, Rockdale’s Workforce Solutions of Texas, County J udge Steve Y oung and the City of Rockdale as being especially helpful.
A pending economic development incentive package includes a phased-in ad valorem tax abatement.
“We feel like we are the true spirit of entrepreneurship,” Harris said. “We’re some people putting together this venture we know will succeed. We had about 1,000 people say ‘ no’ to us, but we just don’t accept ‘ no’.”
Then he read that not-terribly flattering article in W i red magazine. And now the world’s largest data mining center is going up at a place which W i red’ s writer depicted thusly: “Near the entrance to the facility, five or six black vultures brunched on roadkill. A dozen more perched on the side of the road.”
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