At DataBank, doing the right thing does not always mean doing the easy thing. That belief was put to the test three years ago, when construction on two of our Atlanta data center facilities turned up something unexpected and set in motion one of the most meaningful environmental initiatives in our company’s history.

When Construction Met Conservation

While breaking ground on the property, we discovered Georgia Asters growing on the site. This rare wildflower is listed as a threatened species by the State of Georgia and serves as a critical late-season food source for Monarch butterflies during their annual migration. Pollinators like the Georgia Aster play an important role in our food supply since roughly one-third of the fruits and vegetables we consume depend on a healthy pollinator ecosystem. 

When development clears large tracts of land, the ecosystems and migration pathways pollinators depend on can disappear with them. Replacing them with a protected natural habitat matters well beyond the environment. In many cases, it is essential to preserving the food systems communities depend on.

We could have cleared the flowers from the site and moved on. Instead, we carefully relocated them to a protected area of the property, even though no regulation required us to do so. It was the right call, and it planted the seed for something bigger.

Building a Pollinator Habitat from the Ground Up

That decision led us to Pollinator Partnership, the leading nonprofit dedicated to protecting pollinator habitats across North America. Working with their team, we replaced what could have been vast areas of water-intensive sod grass on the property with a native wildflower mix that is better for the local ecosystem and more sustainable to maintain. 

This past week, we took that commitment a step further by planting a manicured pollinator garden at the front entrance of two of our Atlanta facilities. It was a true community effort, with Atlanta-area DataBankers, local community members, and representatives from our neighbors at the American Legion all picking up shovels. 

The work was not easy. The DataBank property sits in an area known as Boulder Park for good reason, and digging more than 60 holes through dense, rock-strewn Georgia red clay meant everyone earned their keep. More than a few people took a turn with the pickaxe. 

The DataBank Way

Projects like this one reflect something we think about often: what it means to be a responsible neighbor in the communities where we operate. It would have been easier, and entirely legal, to clear that original patch of Georgia Asters without a second thought. We chose a different path. 

What started as a small act of environmental care has grown into a model for how we approach land stewardship across our portfolio. We are grateful to our sustainability team, our construction and landscape partners at Kimley Horn and Brasfield & Gorrie, the representatives from Pollinator Partnership, and the many DataBankers and community members who showed up and got their hands dirty. This one was a team effort in every sense. 

The Atlanta pollinator garden is one of the latest examples of what community commitment looks like at DataBank. Across the country, our employee-owners have spent this spring cleaning up rivers, restoring trails, and assembling Kindness Kits for shelters in cities where we operate. That spirit extends beyond April and May — from donating equipment to schools and supporting trade education, to organizing blood drives and writing letters to deployed troops. Giving back is not a program at DataBank. It is part of how we operate.

Want to learn more about how DataBank is investing in the communities where we operate? Visit our Community Relations page or explore DataBank Digest for more stories about our people, our partners, and the neighborhoods we’re proud to call home.