The Governor of Virginia has announced that Criticon, a data processing and preparation host, is to invest US$115 million to open a 150,000 square-foot co-location data center in the City of Harrisonburg.
According to an official press release, the company, which will expand by 40,000 square feet the former Tyco Building at 1175 N. Main Street, will own and operate the data center and have additional tenants operating their own equipment within a designated area. Virginia successfully competed with Maryland for the project.
"Harrisonburg is the right fit for Criticon's first co-location data center," said Governor Timothy M. Kaine. "The area's university, technology-savvy workforce, and multiple fiber carriers meet all the company's needs. Criticon's significant investment to convert the former Tyco Building and create new, high paying technology jobs will broaden the corporate base in Harrisonburg and the region."
Recently formed for mission critical facilities development, Criticon Corporation is a privately held company headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. Criticon's primary market focus will be on serving federal government and private enterprise business continuity needs.
"This is just the first of several mission-critical facilities including data centers, continuity offices and disaster recovery sites that we expect to build in the Shenandoah Valley, said William A. Russell, Jnr, adding that Harrisonburg is the ideal location for such a facility. "It's just over 100 miles from Washington, DC, over 50 miles outside the 50-mile blast zone, yet an easy two-hour drive. It is also over 50 miles from the nearest nuclear power plant, behind the Blue Ridge Mountains and accessible to plenty of electrical power and telecommunications fiber optic lines.