Virginia is apparently going to be build a data center in Richmond, a back-up data center, and a help desk/call center as a follow-on to the creation of VITA, the Virginia Information Technology Agency.
The Bristol Herald Courier editorial page is urging that the back-up center be built in Wise County to take advantage of UVA-Wise. SCHEV, of course, told the General Assembly that UVA-Wise didn’t generate any economic development, so a new university in Southside wouldn’t, either.
The Courier said Wise should get the center over Danville because there’s no Southside university. No other candidate locations were identified.
I believe that any new state-wide service facilities should be located in either Southside or Southwest. If we can tie up all state procurement officials and all vendors in a quest to help under-represented small, minority, and woman-owned businesses, we should commit all new state facility spending in a quest to help our economically disadvantaged regions.
