ByteGrid, a national data storage company, celebrated a grand opening Thursday that business leaders and members of the technology community say is another catalyst for economic development.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - ByteGrid, a national data storage company, celebrates a grand opening today that business leaders and members of the technology community say is another catalyst for economic development.
Data centers generally have few employees, so they create little traffic. And unlike residential development, they don't require new spending on schools, parks and libraries. But they pump in millions of dollars in annual tax revenue and spark economic growth.
In January, ByteGrid secured tax credits for $100 million in expected investments. A change in state tax law allows ByteGrid to share those tax credits with its tenants, introducing the concept of wholesale data centers to Ohio.
Bytegrid expects its downtown data center - the largest of its kind in the state - to appeal to corporations, hospital systems and institutions with large amounts of data to sort and store. Cities such as Chattanooga, Austin, and Kansas City are seeing revitalization due to advanced utilities like high-speed networks.
With a potential capacity of about 300,000 square foot, the data center opens with its first phase about 10 percent developed. It's located in the Cleveland Technology Center, a dated telecommunications center on Rockwell Avenue near East 18th Street. ByteGrid is among the top 10 largest data centers in the state.
Bill Winsininski, V.P and general manager at ByteGrid Bill Winsininski, vice president and general manager at ByteGrid, said as technology continues to grow more powerful and data is more critical to company operation, many companies now rely on private data centers built to serve large enterprises.
"There's nothing new in business that doesn't involve technology. These computers nowadays run really hot, and it's a risk to have them in your own building. That's why companies put infrastructure in our data centers," he said. "We make sure the lifeblood of a business is constantly available."
So far, the only two tenants that Bytegrid has announced are MCPC, a technology company that offers hardware, software and IT services, and Secure Data 365, a retail tenant that had its own grand opening in April.
Tracey A. Nichols, director of the department of Economic Development for the City of Cleveland, referred to Bytegrid as another win for Cleveland's information technology cluster. And it has the potential to tie into the city's new 100 GIG Fiber network under construction.
"Resources like Bytegrid put Cleveland on the map for IT, Big Data and Medical IT users, to name a few," Nichols said. "We are excited to welcome Bytegrid to Cleveland."
Petar Bojovic, director of operations at BlueBridge Networks, said his 11-year old downtown cloud computing and data center business welcomes ByteGrid to Cleveland, too. He said new data centers are great for the region and his company remains well poised to serve companies and institutions regionally. BlueBridge recently announced its own re-investments and expansions.
"A city is known by its infrastructure, and the more resources available to leverage, allows the economic ecosystem to continue to grow," Bojovic said. "Competition is good for all. It makes us even better and more committed to our Cleveland headquarters flagship, our home."
Brad Nellis, executive director of OHTec, formerly known as the Northeast Ohio Software Association, said he's looking forward to the company being an active and engaged member of the vibrant tech community here.
"ByteGrid has an interesting story to tell and a solid value proposition," he said.
Brett Lindsey, chief operating officer of OneCommunity, a nonprofit telecommunications provider, said they've been working with Bytegrid since the company announced plans to enter the Cleveland market, in efforts to ensure they had the highest speed bandwidth available to service customers.
"Our 10G network is up and running in their new facility and we are providing services to a number of customers who just moved in," said Lindsey, who is also president of Everstream, an Internet service provider.