Westerville-based Vertiv is forecasting a 37% sales jump to roughly $14 billion this year, putting a big local number on the data-center boom — even as the company worked through supply-chain snags during the second quarter.
The updated outlook makes Vertiv one of Central Ohio’s clearest corporate beneficiaries of the race to build AI infrastructure. Columbus Business First reported yesterday that the Fortune 500 manufacturer expects sales to climb 37% from 2025 after overcoming the Q2 disruptions.
Vertiv had already set a high bar in April, when it projected 2026 net sales of $13.5 billion to $14 billion and organic growth of 29% to 31%. In its first-quarter report, Vertiv said net sales reached $2.65 billion, up 30% year over year, while Americas organic sales grew 44% on strong data-center demand.
AI Demand Is Reshaping Ohio Operations
Vertiv’s local footprint is expanding alongside that demand. The company announced a roughly $50 million investment in its Ironton manufacturing operation and Westerville headquarters campus, projects expected to create hundreds of jobs through 2029 and increase Ironton capacity for liquid-cooling and chilled-water systems by about 45%, according to Vertiv’s Ohio announcement.
The expansion is expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2027, giving the company more room to supply the power and cooling equipment needed for denser computing facilities. In other words, the same AI rush lifting Vertiv’s forecast is also forcing the manufacturer to add capacity before demand outruns its factories.
A Big Backlog Meets Real-World Bottlenecks
Vertiv entered 2026 with plenty of demand already waiting in line. In its fourth-quarter report, the company said its backlog reached $15 billion at the end of 2025, while full-year organic sales rose 26%. That backdrop helped support the earlier 2026 growth forecast in Vertiv’s earnings release.
For Central Ohio, the story is less about one earnings number than a manufacturing bet. Vertiv is adding Ohio capacity while customers race to bring more computing power online, and the company’s next challenge will be turning that enormous appetite into equipment that can actually ship on time.
