This report assesses the economic and fiscal contribution that data centers make to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Just as the industrial revolution of the late 18th century made the manufacturing sector the driving force for economic development at the time, the technological revolution of the late 20th century has made the technology sector the driving force for economic development in the modern economy. An important difference between the two, however, is that where the industrial revolution was largely confined to the manufacturing sector, the technological revolution has been ubiquitous and has driven and connected innovations in almost every sector of the economy, including advanced manufacturing. Data centers and fiber networks are the core infrastructure that facilitates those connections and makes them possible. As a result, it is not an exaggeration to say that they have become the backbone of the modern economy.
The remainder of the report is divided into four sections. The Data Center Sector Profile section provides a profile of the data center sector in Virginia and details recent trends in that sector. The Contribution of Data Centers to Virginia’s Economy section identifies and quantifies some of the more salient contributions that the data center sector makes to Virginia’s economy. The Role of Incentives section discusses the role that state tax incentives are playing in the deployment of data centers in Virginia and across the United States. Finally, the Conclusion section provides a brief conclusion and summary of our findings. To learn more download this report.