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 positioned ideally to serve as a hub for large regional businesses, national and international players. 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 has 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 the 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 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.