A company that manufactures cooling equipment for data centers will invest $18.1 million in its Rockbridge County facility, creating 211 new jobs, the governor announced Tuesday.
Racine, Wisconsin-based Modine makes products to manage heating and cooling for a variety of markets, including residential and commercial heating and air conditioning, power generation and vehicle transportation.
Its Rockbridge facility makes equipment for data centers, which house large numbers of computer servers and related hardware to store and process information for services such as email, online shopping and video streaming. Without proper cooling, the equipment can overheat and malfunction.
“Virginia is a world leader in the data center industry, and we are proud to contribute to the industry’s growth here,” Rob Bedard, general manager of Modine’s North America data center business, said in a news release from Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office.
Household names including Amazon and Google have data centers in the commonwealth. Most are in Northern Virginia — Loudoun County’s “Data Center Alley” in Ashburn is billed as the largest concentration of data centers in the world, with more than 25 million square feet of operations — but not all are; for example, Microsoft has a campus in Mecklenburg County.
“Modine’s increased production of data center cooling equipment will meet the growing demand of this vital sector in the Commonwealth while creating high-quality 21st century jobs.” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in the news release.
Modine currently employs about 75 people at its Rockbridge production facility, on Collierstown Road outside Lexington, which it launched in November 2022 after converting its warehouse there to a manufacturing plant.
The company plans to expand the size of that facility and hire the 211 new employees over the next five years. The jobs will be mostly assembly technicians, leads and production supervisors across multiple shifts, with an average annual salary across all positions of about $47,700, the company said in an email.
For its data center clients, the facility produces chillers, which the company described as machines measuring, on average, about 45 feet long by 10 feet high by 8 feet wide. The Rockbridge plant has delivered dozens of chillers since it began production, the company said.
Modine also employs about 300 people at a facility in Buena Vista and has had a presence in the region for more than 60 years.
“The growth of Modine in Rockbridge County stands as a testament to the enduring collaboration between industry and community,” Leslie Ayers, chair of the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors, said in the news release. “With the creation of more than 200 new jobs and a significant investment in its facility, this company is not only enhancing our local economy but also reaffirming its dedication to the prosperity of our community.”
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Rockbridge County and the Harrisonburg-based Shenandoah Valley Partnership to secure the Modine expansion for Virginia, the governor said. Youngkin approved a $470,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to help Rockbridge County.
The state will support Modine’s job creation through the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program, a workforce recruitment and training program that includes the state economic development partnership and Virginia’s community colleges.
Modine, founded in 1916, has more than 11,000 employees in North America, South America, Europe and Asia.