Robust infrastructure, world’s fastest data transmission provides Henrico, Virginia companies with the competitive edge in new era
By Anthony Romanello,
Executive Director, Henrico
Economic Development Authority
About the Author
Anthony is Executive Director of the Henrico Economic Development Authority and can be reached at anthony@henrico.com 804.501.7521.
In the 1990s, Henrico invested $44 million to develop the White Oak Technology Park, a master-planned, publicly owned industrial park located at the intersection of I-64 and I-295. With its strategic location and sophisticated technology, White Oak Technology Park was ideally positioned to serve as a hub for large regional businesses and national and international players. Therefore, Henrico took all the steps needed to ensure the land and infrastructure were well prepared for business.
White Oak Technology Park meets the Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s (VEDP) Tier 4 standards for business readiness – including electric, water, sewer, fiber, roads – and with opportunities for expansion. This plan-ahead mentality, which has always been a key component of our approach, was vital to the success of Henrico-based businesses.
In 2017, the QTS Data Center at the White Oak Technology Park opened the Richmond Network Access Point (NAP), which serves as the termination point for the MAREA and BRUSA subsea cables, and soon Dunant and SAEx1. There was no way to know that a novel coronavirus would pervade the world and stimulate a more than 50% surge in daytime broadband consumption. But we did know that, regardless of circumstance, Henrico should remain capable of facilitating the world’s fastest data transmission so that area businesses could thrive.
Just how fast can the Richmond NAP transmit data? Every movie ever made, in every language, can make the trip across the Atlantic in 42 seconds! Today, it has the world’s fastest connectivity to Europe and South America, and in 2022, to Africa.
There is no way to predict the future. Henrico has made it our mission to anticipate, plan for, and prepare for it, whatever the future may hold.
Prepared for Our New World
Henrico is keenly aware that COVID-19 has forever altered the way we live and work. Today, a company’s ability to support teleworking is essential to its economic resilience and growth. Now more than ever, business owners need a trusted point of global connectivity to make communication effortless for their business and their employees– and they’re finding what they need in Henrico. In addition to the four subsea cables, the QTS Richmond NAP features access to more than 21 network providers and delivers the highest on-net capacity and lowest latency ever deployed between continents.
Our work to bolster the success of Henrico businesses does not stop at the White Oak Technology Park. Henrico is proud of our record of fast-tracking business development and supporting the innovation and speed to market that is the lifeblood of all business. That is a story that is told not only through Henrico’s infrastructure, land availability, and business-friendly government, but also through important quality-of-life measures. For example, we support an academic system that offers nine Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence and provides technical education lauded by Dirty Jobs host and workforce development proponent Mike Rowe. Henrico understands a quality education system is essential to the vitality of our community.
A World of Opportunity
Vint Cerf, Chief Evangelist for Google and one of the co-inventors of the internet, said, “The subsea cables have opened an amazing opportunity for Henrico Virginia to become a locus for both domestic and international applications.“
Henrico is ready for you.
