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FRA holds regional meeting on attracting high-tech investment to area Date published: 6/24/2009
BY BILL FREEHLING
A regional economic development group is looking for people interested in pursuing high-tech industries on their land sites. The Fredericksburg Regional Alliance played host to a "high-technology forum" Monday night for area business leaders at the University of Mary Washington's Jepson Alumni Executive Center. The focus was on attracting high-tech industries--such as data centers and facilities for next-generation energy products--to the Fredericksburg area. "It's something that is worth going after," said FRA President Gene Bailey. "We are hungry to get in the game." Bailey told the crowd, which included numerous commercial Realtors, that he's looking for "players" who have developable land that could be shown to companies looking to invest in the region. He urged those people to contact the FRA. Bailey noted that data centers and other high-tech industries bring well-paying jobs and a good tax base for local governments. "What's not to like?" he said. Case in point is Culpeper County's Terremark Worldwide Inc. plant, which opened the first of its five 50,000-square-foot security buildings last summer just off McDevitt Drive. The Miami-based Internet routing company is spending about $270 million to build the facility. When the 30-acre campus is completed, Terremark expects to create about 250 new jobs in the area with salaries that will average about $90,000 a year. Top salaries are forecast to be in the $180,000 range. Terremark officials have cited the plant's location outside the 50-mile "blast zone" of Washington as an attractive feature. The company serves the federal government and about 600 high-profile Internet companies such as Google, Yahoo and Facebook. Data centers require ample power, water, fiber-optic cables and skilled labor, said Michael MacNeilly, a business-development manager for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. MacNeilly noted at Monday's symposium that many engineers were willing to take a pay cut to work at Terremark so they no longer had to battle traffic to their Washington jobs. He noted that the Fredericksburg area has additional sites that could work as data centers. MacNeilly and Bailey said the Fredericksburg area has a skilled workforce including many engineers, a great location, higher education, a strong military presence and ample electrical power. Three men from global engineering and consulting firm CH2M Hill made a presentation about the possibilities for high-tech industries. Bailey said the FRA paid the travel expenses of the three men to bring them to the area from Colorado for Monday's forum. Among the high-tech industries looking to expand are data centers and those involved in producing flat panels, semiconductors, medical imaging, nanotechnology, advanced batteries and photovoltaics. Some of these industries can develop sites at existing facilities, while others are looking for "shovel-ready" land where they can quickly start building. Bill Freehling: 540/374-5405
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