Standing room-only crowds at Shalersville Town Hall don’t faze local hairstylist Tiffany Olson.
She and her core group of activists weave through aisles, spreading the word about Shalersville Strong/No Data Center. They distribute flyers, answer questions and, if anyone is interested, sell a T-shirt or two.
Olson started the group in July when her customers at Mantua’s Tiffany’s on Main began expressing concern about a 750-megawatt data center campus proposed for the Geis-owned Turnpike Commerce Center. Olson saw it as a “catastrophic nightmare” and wasn’t about to give up without a fight.
“My son and his wife bought a home about a mile from where the proposed site is, and when I found out what was being proposed for that area, I became gravely concerned for the health of my family,” she said.
Olson soon realized some of her friends shared similar concerns. Capitalizing on a community that comes together when one of their own is in need, she began working the phones. Six women stepped up, ready to spread the word. (Olson told The Portager the women do not want their names publicized.)
Shalersville Strong’s current focus is getting people to attend public meetings “so they can understand what’s at stake here. Unless you get involved, you really have no idea. Everyone lives in this busy world, and they’re wrapped up in their own stuff. We’re trying to awaken a lot of sleeping people, to actually ignite a passion to care,” she said.
If people realize that data center proposals and actual data centers are popping up across Ohio, they’ll also realize that this is not a “NIMBY” (Not In My Back Yard) issue, Olson said. They won’t be blindsided by all but done deals and will be more willing and able to, as she calls it, “fight the good fight.”
Shalersville Strong believes the choice about data centers belongs to Ohio residents, not to “billionaires forcing this on our communities,” Olson said.
She hopes the combined community efforts will send Bitdeer – the company behind the proposed data center – and Geis packing, but is preparing for a legal fight against deep-pocketed mega corporations. Olson knows such a battle would be more David and Goliath than matched adversaries, but she’s ready.
“We have God on our side. We stand in faith, we stand in family, and we stand in determination. We feel locked and loaded and ready to protect our community. We are getting battle ready,” she said.
Should Geis and/or Bitdeer follow through on their already stated plans to lawyer up, Olson said Shalersville Strong’s priority will turn to fundraising. T-shirt sale proceeds that now cover the cost of production may turn a revenue stream at that point.
“I don’t think the billionaires understand,” she said. “They think they're coming into the United States and they’re going to take over. I want people to understand they can form an army in their own communities and, with a little passion, they can stand up, they can rise, and they can protect what is theirs.”
Large data centers are so new that scientific studies on their environmental effects are few and far between. Even so, grassroots groups such as Shalersville Strong are concerned about noise and water pollution. Olson also cited potential effects on local livestock, nevermind human beings.
The megacorporations don’t care, she said.
“It’s all about the money. It’s all about the billionaires who can’t be satisfied with the billions they have. It’s greed. It is nothing short of greed because they don’t care about us. They don’t care about the environment. They want to take hold of the millions or billions of dollars that could be made in what they’re doing,” she said.
Olson promotes Shalersville Strong with Conserve Ohio, another grassroots group dedicated to banning large-scale data centers (those over 25 megawatts) in Ohio. Its current push is to gather valid signatures on petitions meant to place the issue on the November 2027 ballot.
Shalersville Strong/No Data Centers is also aligned with Portage Residents for Responsible Development, a public Facebook Group administered by Shalersville resident Jessica Winchell. Winchell’s aim is sharing information about “all things related to data centers in Portage County.”
Be forewarned: Winchell’s website clearly states that insulting comments, partisanship, bad faith and strawman arguments are strictly off-limits.
Winchell is also Portage County’s coordinator for Conserve Ohio, tasked with ensuring that petitions for the statewide ban are distributed and completed properly. She supports Shalersville Strong’s work, noting that the group is wisely focusing on local instead of larger efforts.
“I think the grassroots efforts are showing where people’s interests lie,” Winchell said. “They are making a difference. There's a lot of municipalities outside of Portage that have started implementing local bans as a response to local efforts. The laws are quickly evolving. I can think of no better group to show that the democratic system is working.”
Meanwhile, Olson and her lieutenants monitor Shalersville Strong’s Facebook page, responding to questions and posting researched information on an almost daily basis. They and any helpers they can corral are also busy getting the word out via flyers distributed to local businesses and interviews with local news sources.
Portage County residents who wish to join Shalersville Strong should contact Olson via Facebook’s Shalersville Strong/No Data Center page or email her at
It’s not a complicated strategy, or a new one. Olson hopes that data about data centers will ignite enough passion in people that they will join the fight.
“We don’t have to stand down. We don’t have to bow to a master, which is the billionaires. We can stand and we can hold up the things that we care about,” she said.