If the future of the economy will be driven by tech, Virginia wants it to go through the Commonwealth.

That means securing new data centers – those giant storage facilities where large and small companies keep and disseminate their data. It’s an important issue, since thousands of jobs and billions in property tax revenue will help cash-strapped localities in a state that has spent the last decade diversifying its economy from over-reliance on the federal government.

A recently published report titled “The Economic and Fiscal Contribution that Data Centers Make to Virginia” by the Northern Virginia Technology Council highlighted impressive statistics that have led to Virginia overtaking New York as the “world’s largest market” for data centers. As of 2016, the industry brought 43,275 jobs to the Commonwealth, equating to $3.2 billion in labor income and $10.2 billion in economic output.

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