Meet the Scrappy Entrepreneurs Getting Their Piece of the AI Buildout Pie

Meet the Scrappy Entrepreneurs Getting Their Piece of the AI Buildout Pie

## The Gold Rush That Nobody's Calling a Gold Rush

Let me tell you about a business that didn't exist five years ago.

**National Jobsite Catering.** It's a company that feeds construction workers at data center sites. Not a restaurant. Not a food truck fleet. A **mobile feeding operation** that follows the buildout from town to town, serving **1,500 meals a day** at a dozen sites across Northern Virginia, Texas, Ohio, Louisiana, Nevada, and Georgia.

**Revenue is up 10X since the founder pivoted to data centers four years ago.** 

**That's the AI buildout everyone's talking about.** But while the headlines focus on Nvidia, Microsoft, and the **$5 trillion in expected tech and data center spending through 2030**, there's a quieter story unfolding in towns across America. 

**A story about scrappy entrepreneurs finding opportunity in the chaos.**

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## The Hidden Economy of the AI Boom

### Where the Money Actually Goes

**Frequently Asked Question:** *Who benefits from the data center buildout besides Big Tech?*

**An entire ecosystem of small businesses.**

When a hyperscaler builds a data center, thousands of construction workers descend on a community. They need **food, parking, housing, laundry, supplies, entertainment**. And the companies that provide those services are often **local entrepreneurs who saw the opportunity and seized it.**

**The numbers are staggering:**

- **More than 1,500 data centers** are already in the works in the US 

- **Global AI investment is expected to exceed $1 trillion in 2026 alone** 

- **For every direct job created at a data center, up to seven jobs are supported in the surrounding community** 

- **About 75% of the companies supporting this industry are small businesses** 

**"You can't stop it unless you have $50 billion,"** said David Rodgers, cofounder of Ice Queen, a Louisiana business that sells $3 bags of ice to subcontractors on Meta's Hyperion project. **"You might as well get on board and go with the flow."** 

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## The Entrepreneurs Who Bet on the Boom

### Scott Kaplan: The Man Who Feeds Thousands

**Frequently Asked Question:** *How do you feed 3,000 construction workers in a town with one restaurant?*

**You bring the food to them.**

**Scott Kaplan** founded **National Jobsite Catering** after a hyperscaler hired him to feed **2,500 workers** at a site outside Philadelphia. He remembers the town vividly: **"Literally the town that it was in had one restaurant — and it was in a strip club."** 

**His solution:** Prepare meals in temporary kitchens, then deliver them to break tents on the worksite. The Big Tech companies **foot the bill**. 

**The model works:**

- **1,500 meals per day** at each of a dozen sites

- **20 full-time employees**

- Partnerships with local vendors who add equipment and plan production

- **About 15 local people employed per project** in kitchen, delivery, and distribution roles 

**"They know what they're doing,"** Kaplan says of his local partners. **"But they've never cooked for 1,000 to 3,000 people."** 

### Tim Allen: The Taco Shop That Bet on Meta

**Frequently Asked Question:** *Can a small restaurant really thrive off a construction project?*

**Ask Tim Allen.**

His family opened **Holy Tacos** in Rayville, Louisiana, in **April 2025** — directly because of Meta's announcement that it would build its largest-ever data center in nearby Holly Ridge. 

**The results:**

- **40% of monthly business** is directly related to Meta

- **Catering orders range from $4,000 to $7,000**

- **Slow days now match previous busy days** 

**"You'll come in and see a mixture of both Meta workers and locals,"** Allen says. **"You'll have lawyers and attorneys in there eating, and then you'll have people in their high vests for Meta. It's all walks of life."** 

**The broader impact on Rayville is undeniable.** Allen describes a downtown that had been **"in decline over the last several years"** —old businesses shutting down one by one. **"Since Meta's announcement, we've seen old businesses revitalize and new ones open, including ours."** 

### TJ and Kaycie Weed: From 30 Tickets to 130

The couple opened **HeBrews Coffee & Eats** in Rayville near the end of **2021**. Before Meta, they thought **30 tickets was a good day**. 

**Now?** **"We're hitting 30 tickets before the first hour and a half through the drive-thru alone,"** TJ says. **"We're probably hitting 130 tickets now."** 

They added a **food truck** directly across from the construction site in Holly Ridge — **specifically because of Meta**. 

### David Rodgers and Linda Edwards: The Ice Queen Empire

**Frequently Asked Question:** *What do construction workers in 100-degree heat need most?*

**Ice. Lots of it.**

**David Rodgers** and **Linda Edwards** cofounded **Ice Queen** in **2025** to sell **$3 bags of ice** to subcontractors working on the Meta project. Louisiana has seen temperatures reach **100 degrees more than two dozen times this summer**. 

**But ice was just the beginning.** Ice Queen evolved into a **one-stop shop**: coffee machines, cups, sugar packets, fridges, microwaves, straws. **"You name it, Ice Queen tries to supply it."** 

### Joshua Eisen: Parking as a Business

**Frequently Asked Question:** *Where do you park 2,000 construction workers?*

**That's a $100 million problem — and a business opportunity.**

**WhereiPark** started as a marketplace for city parking spots. Its fastest-growing business now comes from **leasing lots near data center construction sites**. General contractors have asked for **as many as 2,000 spaces** for a single project. 

**The company scouts church lots, struggling shopping centers, fairgrounds, casinos** — any space that can temporarily hold hundreds of cars. In remote locations, contractors may need to **grade and stripe land**. Local landowners earn **temporary income** without selling the farm. 

**"If there's nowhere for the construction workers to park, the thing doesn't get built,"** says Joshua Eisen, WhereiPark's chief revenue officer. 

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## The Real Numbers: What This Means for Communities

### Richland Parish: From $21 Million to $92 Million

**Frequently Asked Question:** *How much tax revenue does a data center actually generate?*

**The transformation in Richland Parish, Louisiana, is staggering.**

According to **Grow NELA**, the local economic development authority: 

| Year | Annual Sales Tax Revenue |

|------|-------------------------|

| **2024** | **$21 million** |

| **2025** | **$39 million** |

| **2026 (projected)** | **$92 million** |

**"Richland Parish has gained more annual sales tax revenue in 2025 alone than in the last 20 years combined,"** Grow NELA says. 

**"We have a number of small businesses that have propped up and have grown significantly because of the project,"** said Robert Cleveland, Grow NELA's president and CEO. 

### The Jobs Multiplier

**Frequently Asked Question:** *How many jobs does a data center create beyond construction?*

**The ripple effect is enormous.**

**Meta's Hyperion data center** will span nearly **10 million square feet** and support **more than 7,500 jobs at peak construction** — a workforce larger than the population of Aspen, Colorado. 

**But the lasting impact is bigger.** According to the House Committee on Small Business, **for every direct job created at a data center, up to seven jobs are supported in the surrounding community**. Small businesses supply, maintain, and support these facilities. 

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## The Dark Side: When the Boom Becomes a Burden

### The Backlash Is Real

**Frequently Asked Question:** *Is everyone happy about the data center boom?*

**Absolutely not.**

**Data centers consume enormous amounts of electricity and water.** Some facilities can use up to **5 million gallons of water daily** — equivalent to a city of 50,000 people. They require transmission lines, substations, and land. And after construction, they **employ surprisingly few people**. 

**The resistance is growing:**

- **Port Washington, Wisconsin:** Voted to become the first town in the nation to pass a referendum restricting AI data center developments 

- **Augusta, Michigan:** Residents **overwhelmingly rejected** a rezoning proposal (roughly **90% voting against**) 

- **Coweta County, Georgia:** Massive petition drives forced a county referendum against an **831-acre data center** 

- **East Fishkill, New York:** Issued a **three-year moratorium** on data centers larger than 20 megawatts 

- **Kansas communities:** Ballot measures targeting data centers with explicit bans or caps 

**"This is not an anti-tech town,"** said Tanya Radford, an East Fishkill resident and professor. **"I'm an educator. I use technology."** 

**The concern isn't technology. It's scale.** The proposed East Fishkill data center would have consumed **more electricity than the entire city of Buffalo** — which has **275,000 people**. East Fishkill has **30,000**. 

### The Employment Anxiety

**Frequently Asked Question:** *Why do people oppose data centers if they create jobs?*

**Because the jobs are temporary — and the technology is coming for their livelihoods.**

**71% of Americans now believe AI will result in fewer jobs over the next 20 years.** Communities are being asked to provide **enormous quantities of electricity, land, and infrastructure** for machines whose creators **advertise their ability to perform work currently done by the people being asked to accommodate them**. 

**"That fear is measurable,"** the Washington Examiner noted. **"Technology companies call this productivity, which it undoubtedly is, but productivity looks different from the desk of the person whose work is being automated."** 

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## Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: What kinds of businesses are benefiting from the AI data center boom?**

A: **Jobsite catering, parking lot leasing, ice and supply delivery, restaurants, coffee shops, food trucks, and local vendors.** These businesses serve the thousands of construction workers who descend on communities during the buildout. 

**Q: How much is being spent on data centers?**

A: **More than $5 trillion** on technology and data centers through 2030, with **over 1,500 data centers already in the works in the US**. Global AI investment is expected to exceed **$1 trillion in 2026 alone**. 

**Q: How many jobs does a data center create?**

A: **For every direct job created at a data center, up to seven jobs are supported in the surrounding community.** Meta's Hyperion project will support **over 7,500 jobs at peak construction**. 

**Q: Why are some towns rejecting data centers?**

A: **Electricity and water consumption, land use, noise, and concerns about AI's impact on employment.** Some towns have passed referendums, moratoriums, and zoning restrictions. 

**Q: Is the boom sustainable?**

A: **Analysts are divided.** Bernstein estimates **35-40% of announced capacity globally is at risk of delay or cancellation** through 2027, citing power availability, cooling infrastructure, and supply chain bottlenecks. UBS expects hyperscaler capital expenditure growth to slow from **76% in 2026 to 25% in 2027**. 

**Q: What happens to these businesses when construction ends?**

A: **Some will follow the crews to the next project.** National Jobsite Catering was specifically designed to be **mobile**. WhereiPark can **repeat the search around another project without owning land**. But restaurants like Holy Tacos will need to **diversify beyond construction catering** to survive long-term. 

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## Conclusion: The Boom Is Real — But So Is the Bubble Question

Let me bring this home.

**The AI buildout is creating a parallel economy. And the entrepreneurs who saw it coming are cashing in.**

**Scott Kaplan feeds thousands.** **Tim Allen's taco shop does 40% of its business off Meta.** **David Rodgers sells ice by the truckload.** **Joshua Eisen turned parking lots into a growth business.** 

**These aren't tech entrepreneurs. They're scrappy operators who recognized that every gold rush needs someone to sell the shovels — or the tacos.**

**But the warning signs are real.**

**Bernstein estimates that 35-40% of announced data center capacity is at risk of delay or cancellation** through 2027. **Power availability, not capital, is now the primary gating factor**. Utility interconnection queues stretch **3-4 years**. And **UBS expects hyperscaler capital spending growth to slow dramatically** — from 76% this year to just **25% in 2027**. 

**The backlash is growing too.** Seven in ten Americans now oppose construction of an AI data center in their area. Towns are passing moratoriums and referendums. And the employment anxiety — the fear that AI is coming for jobs — **fuels the resistance**. 

**For the entrepreneurs who bet on the boom:** The money is flowing now. But the construction crews eventually leave. The question is whether these businesses can **transition from serving the buildout to serving the permanent facility** — or whether they follow the next project to the next town.

**For the communities hosting data centers:** The tax revenue is transformative. Richland Parish went from **$21 million to $92 million** in annual sales tax revenue. But the costs — electricity, water, land, disruption — are real. And the **permanent jobs are far fewer than the construction jobs**. 

**For the rest of America:** The AI buildout is reshaping towns that never asked for it. Some are getting rich. Some are getting squeezed. And everyone is trying to figure out whether this is a **boom that lifts all boats — or a bubble that bursts and leaves the wreckage behind.**

**The scrappy entrepreneurs are betting on the boom. The question is whether they're right — or whether they're just the latest people to arrive at a gold rush just before the mine runs dry.**

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## Disclaimer

**This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or business advice.**

I am not a licensed financial advisor, investment professional, or economic development expert. The views expressed here are based on publicly available information and my own analysis at the time of writing.

**Key facts cited in this article are sourced from Business Insider, the House Committee on Small Business, Brookings, Bernstein Research, UBS, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and other outlets as of October 2026.** Business revenue figures are self-reported by entrepreneurs and may not be independently verified. Data center spending projections and cancellation estimates are forecasts and may differ from actual results. Local tax revenue figures are based on economic development authority reports.

**Investing in data centers, AI-related stocks, or any financial instrument involves significant risk, including the potential loss of your entire investment.** **Past performance does not guarantee future results.** The AI buildout may slow, stall, or reverse. Businesses that depend on construction activity may face significant challenges when projects conclude.

**The mention of specific companies, businesses, or individuals is for illustrative purposes only and is not an endorsement or recommendation.** This article does not provide business, legal, or financial planning advice.