On behalf of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, the voice of business for the Roanoke Region, please join us in welcoming Google, the world’s eighth largest company, to the Roanoke Region and Botetourt County!
If you wanted to figure out the ideal location for a fast-food restaurant, you could spend thousands of dollars on traffic studies, surveys and demographic analysis, or you could just look to see where McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A are operating. In addition to being wildly successful, these global brands have the expertise and resources to procure the best locations. The corner they choose must be the right spot to sell burgers and chicken sandwiches.
Tech companies across the globe are looking for ideal locations to invest in, build facilities, develop talent and grow their business. The news that Google, the eighth largest company in the world, has chosen the Roanoke Region for its next data center campus sends a strong market signal to the global high-tech industry that the Roanoke Region is the right spot. The business community is excited to welcome Google and anticipates further partnership and collaborative opportunities.
The Roanoke Region is the right spot due to a talent-rich environment, having strong, reliable infrastructure and community resources. Very few localities can boast of being within one hour of 25 colleges and universities, including the Commonwealth’s premier research university, Virginia Tech. Very few localities can match our access to power and water. The collaboration between localities, education and the private sector to facilitate business expansion and development is second to none.
What does all this mean for the Roanoke Region? Google’s choice is an endorsement of the regional economic development strategy expertly executed by the Roanoke Regional Partnership and its public and private partners. This endorsement will likely spark further investment in one of the Commonwealth’s most diverse metro economies.
Last year, the Commonwealth’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) produced a comprehensive report on data centers’ impact on Virginia. Among its key findings: When a region becomes a good host for data centers, other industry follows, “indirectly attracting other technology-related businesses, which help create a well-trained, regional IT workforce.”
If Google’s investment in Botetourt does indeed spark the investment cycle that JLARC identified in other communities, the Roanoke Region will see an influx of investment, high-paying jobs and the accompanying tax revenue. The opportunity to participate in the burgeoning digital economy will incentivize businesses to locate here, helping us retain the skilled workforce that too often graduates and moves to larger metro areas around the country.
These opportunities and benefits are not isolated to a handful of investors and highly educated computer scientists. The new facility at Greenfield will create more than 1,000 construction jobs. Once the facility is operational, it will also create demand for an array of industries, sparking opportunity for trades workers, contractors, manufacturers and various service providers necessary to maintain and operate such a high-tech facility.
It is important to note that regional leadership, while securing Google’s investment and longer-term development, followed Botetourt County’s long-term vision for county land use. Data centers are naturally constrained by geography and topography and are best situated in areas like Greenfield, where the land has been developed and zoned for industry and where utilities are available at scale.
The Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce is thrilled to congratulate the Roanoke Region, Botetourt County and the Roanoke Regional Partnership on a fantastic economic win. As the regional voice for the business community, it is important to recognize the critical role that strategic, pro-active leadership plays in economic growth and the expansion of opportunity for residents and businesses alike.
The selection of the Roanoke Region and Botetourt County as the home for Southwest and Central Virginia’s first major data center investment will prove to be a watershed moment. This project will further enhance our standing and visibility in the global marketplace, leading to future investment and long-term growth.
Sam Lionberger is chair of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce. Eric Sichau is president and CEO of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce.
