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Data-center construction creates demand well beyond concrete, power and servers. Crews need meals, parking, shuttles and temporary lodging; projects also hire security and technical support. A 2026 Business Insider feature republished by CNCBNews describes how those needs create business for mobile service providers and local vendors—and why the opportunity can shrink or shift when construction ends.

What services do data-center construction crews need?

Large projects bring many workers to sites that may be far from established services. The feature describes a temporary economy built around the practical needs of getting workers fed, parked, housed and safely on site.

Meals and local catering partnerships

National Jobsite Catering founder Scott Kaplan told Business Insider that his company serves about 1,500 meals per day at each of a dozen data-center construction sites, with its busiest sites serving twice that number. The article says those projects span Northern Virginia, Texas, Ohio, Louisiana, Nevada and Georgia. Kaplan said the company has 20 full-time employees and partners with established local vendors; he estimated that a project can employ about 15 local people in kitchen, delivery and distribution roles.

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Kaplan also said revenue increased tenfold after the company shifted exclusively to data centers four years earlier. That is his account as reported in the feature, not independently verified financial data. He described the value of local partners this way: “They know what they’re doing,” Kaplan said. “But they’ve never cooked for 1,000 to 3,000 people.”

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Temporary parking and shuttles

WhereiPark is described as finding temporary parking near data-center construction projects, sometimes for as many as 2,000 vehicles, and coordinating with shuttle operators. Potential lots mentioned in the feature include church, retail, fairground and casino parking, as well as land prepared for temporary use. WhereiPark chief revenue officer Joshua Eisen put the practical constraint plainly: “If there’s nowhere for the construction workers to park, the thing doesn’t get built.”

Workforce lodging and amenities

The feature describes Target Hospitality developing workforce lodging, including a 4,000-bed North Texas facility under a $550 million deal. It also reports that the company said it had secured contracts representing more than 9,000 beds and $1.4 billion since January. Those are company figures relayed by the article, not independently checked here.

Aramark launched Nexus, which the article describes as offering hotel-like amenities, fitness centers and recreation. Executives projected that each of its three initial sites could generate about $150 million in annualized revenue once fully operational. That is a projection, not revenue already achieved.

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Security and technical support

Salute provides security, safety oversight and technical support during construction and after a facility opens, according to the feature. It also recruits and trains locally. CEO Erich Sanchack described the continuity of security needs this way: “It’s still the same perimeter. It still has the same fence line.”

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Why the construction boom does not guarantee lasting local demand

Construction can create a temporary surge in jobs and spending, but the workforce typically changes when a facility moves into operations. Mark Muro, a Brookings Metro senior fellow, told Business Insider that employment can reach the thousands during construction and fall to the low hundreds after opening. The feature does not provide a study title or methodology for those ranges, so they should be understood as Muro’s observation, not a universal forecast for every project. “It is genuine economic activity,” he said.

A Louisiana food-truck story in the feature illustrates how quickly a small business’s fortunes can change. The owners reportedly spent more than $40,000 on a truck to serve workers building Meta’s Hyperion data center. Orders fell from more than 100 a day to fewer than 40 after a contractor hired an out-of-state caterer. They later rose after local media coverage and a catering job from Meta; the owner told the reporter orders were then about 80 per day. This is one reported case, not a typical or measured outcome for local businesses.

What the reported market figures do—and do not—show

The CNCBNews page, carrying a Business Insider article dated October 12, 2026, reports broad forecasts of more than $5 trillion in expected technology and data-center spending through 2030, more than 1,500 data centers in development in the United States, and more than $1 trillion in expected global AI investment in 2026. The available article extract does not identify the original publisher of those forecasts or the underlying count. They are therefore figures reported by the feature, not independently established estimates or a measure of revenue available to local suppliers.

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Even the more specific company figures above have different meanings: meal volume is a founder’s report, Nexus revenue is a projection, and Target Hospitality’s beds and contract value are company figures reported in the article. None should be treated as a guaranteed opportunity for a prospective vendor.

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How communities can weigh local benefits and costs

The feature frames local outcomes as dependent in part on agreements about hiring, tax revenue and pressure on housing, roads and public services. Communities may seek infrastructure, training or jobs as part of discussions with project developers, but the article does not suggest those results are automatic. Muro’s example of what a town might request was: “If they need a $400,000 fire truck or whatever, ask for it.”

  • Ask what lasts beyond construction. Temporary jobs and vendor demand may recede when the buildout is complete; identify which roles or services are expected to continue in operations.
  • Clarify local participation. Determine whether contractors will use local suppliers, hire local workers or provide training, and how those commitments will be tracked.
  • Account for public-service demands. Consider roads, housing, emergency response and other infrastructure alongside projected tax revenue and construction spending.
  • Plan for procurement changes. The food-truck example shows that a contractor’s catering decision can materially affect a local vendor even while a project is active.

What the data-center buildout means for businesses

The opportunity is clearest for services that solve immediate site and workforce problems: feeding crews, moving and parking them, lodging them, securing the site and supporting facility operations. Some providers can follow projects across regions, while local firms may participate through vendor relationships and hiring. The key distinction is whether demand is tied to the construction surge or can continue once the facility is running; the article’s examples show both possibilities, but do not establish a guaranteed path from one phase to the next.

CNCBNews published the October 12, 2026 page carrying the Business Insider feature. The figures and quotations in the available extract are attributed to the article and its named sources; underlying company materials and forecast sources were not available for independent validation.

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