NVTC Hosts Inaugural Virginia Data Center Awards
Event Celebrates Virginia’s Dominance in the Data Center and Cloud Industry
HERNDON, Va. - The Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) saluted the enormous growth and contributions of Virginia's data center industry at its first-ever Virginia Data Center Awards event on April 24 at Stone Tower Winery in Leesburg, Va. More than 300 industry executives, economic development professionals and state elected officials attended the sold out event to discuss a strong workforce pipeline and other key factors in maintaining Virginia's competiveness in the industry and to recognize individuals and projects that represent excellence in areas of sustainability, construction, advocacy and community engagement and support.
The award winners from the 2019 Virginia Data Center Leadership Awards
While Northern Virginia, led by Loudoun County, is the largest data center market in the world, there has been significant data center investment and expansion in other regions of the Commonwealth. NVTC released a report in February 2018 which found that in 2016, the data center and cloud sector was responsible for directly and indirectly supporting:
- approximately 43,275 jobs
- $3.2 billion in labor income and
- $10.2 billion in economic output in Virginia.
Winners from the event's categories include:
Data Center Community Champion: Erich Sanchack - Digital Realty
Data Center Construction Project Award: Jon Duffey, Bob Shawver, Chris Jewell, Nick Cunningham, and Mark Rainey - representing HITT
Data Center Industry Icon: Bill Stein - Digital Realty
Data Center Sustainable Champion: Dave Smith - Microsoft
Data Center Legislative Champion 2019 Class of Honorees: Virginia State Senator Ryan McDougle, Virginia Delegate Tim Hugo, Prince William Board of County Supervisors Jeanine Lawson and Marty Nohe
NVTC Trailblazer Awards: Buddy Rizer, Loudoun County Department of Economic Development, and James Leach, RagingWire Data Centers
The event featured a panel of Virginia policymakers and leaders who spoke on the policies and investments needed to ensure the Commonwealth continues to maintain a dominant position in attracting and growing data center jobs and investment, along with the related industries that make up its supply chain. Panelists included:
- Virginia Speaker of the House Kirk Cox
- Virginia Senator Janet Howell
- Virginia Economic Development Partnership President and CEO Stephen Moret
- Virginia Senator Frank Ruff
"NVTC first launched our Data Center and Cloud Committee in 2011 to help support, grow and advocate on behalf of our data center sector", said Bobbie Kilberg, President and CEO of NVTC. "This event was a celebration of Virginia's tremendous success to date, which has been the product of strong partnerships between our data center sector and our state and local policymakers."
Guests during the 2019 Virginia Data Center Leadership Awards on April 24
NVTC will update its economic and fiscal report on the state's data center industry later this year. The report is produced by Mangum Economics. Business climate, tax rates and incentives, competitive energy rates, access to renewable energy, a highly skilled workforce and many other factors contribute to Virginia's success and they help Virginia's data centers to compete globally.
Click here to view photo gallery from the evening.