Based on factors ranging from wages to weather, Greenville was not the top choice among more than 45 markets for a state-of-the-art data center that will enhance digital business across the Southeast. But that changed after the executives of a company called DC BLOX visited and were impressed with what they saw and heard.
“The people will tell you the heartbeat of a market," said Jeff Uphues, CEO of DC BLOX. “We started understanding that Greenville was a place where we know we could succeed.”
Uphues spoke to The Greenville News after announcing Wednesday morning that his company will build its new regional data center on a six-acre site in the Global Business Park off of Interstate 85, less than two miles from the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research.
The facility will be the first of its kind in South Carolina.
The project initially will bring five high-paying new positions to the community along with an expected investment of more than $200 million combined between DC BLOX and their tenant customers over the next few years, according to a written statement from the Greenville Area Development Corporation.
DC BLOX "will be a tremendous addition to our technology and knowledge-economy ecosystem," Mark Farris, president and CEO of the Greenville Area Development Corporation, said during a video call. He said the company's data center represents "one of our largest capital investment announcements in several years in Greenville County."
Announcement for Greenville was the result of two years of study
Wednesday's announcement comes two years after DC BLOX began to explore the area, according to Greenville Mayor Knox White. White said in an interview that the company conducted exhaustive research before choosing locations to visit.
Based on that research, White said, “Greenville was on the list, but I don’t think we were the highest on the list."
He said company executives were impressed when they came to Greenville and learned about how the city is managing growth and planning for the future.
"Just the vibrancy that they discovered" led to Greenville being chosen, White said.
Construction will start in a few months and should finish next year. The center will provide its customers with connectivity and online storage capabilities that previously were available only in major metropolitan areas, officials said. It will include five distinct data halls totaling 45,000 square feet and 10,000 square feet of tenant space with conference rooms and work stations.
Data is 'currency of the 21st century'
The data center in Greenville will be linked to DC BLOX's existing sites in Atlanta, Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. According to the company, these data centers provide businesses with an array of services that are secure, reliable and cost-efficient.
"Our data centers are really the Grand Central Station for data in the markets that we serve," Uphues said the video call.
"We've become the ecosystem trusted by 5G wireless providers, by network carriers, and most importantly by governments and other entities and enterprises for our commitment to quality," Uphues said. He said the company's customers include several of the world's largest biotechnology research institutions and many banks.
"Our future is digital, as we have all recognized through COVID-19," Uphues said. "The currency of the 21st century is really data, how it is used, how it is analyzed, how it is accessed, how it is managed and how it is stored."
Speaking on the video call, White said the data center is "nearly comparable" to the importance of the interstate highway system that helped lay the groundwork for Greenville's past growth.
"This is the quiet critical infrastructure for the 21st century — a data center is that important, and what it's going to mean going forward in terms of attracting new businesses to our region, bringing in talented people."
Kirk Brown covers government and politics. Follow him on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM.
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