Amazon Web Services recently released the AWS Economic Impact Report focusing on their investment in data centers located within the state of Virginia.
Chemstar WATER is featured in this AWS Economic Report
The report brings to light the sheer volume of money the global public cloud company spends each year on data centers in Northern Virginia. It details the 15-year investment in the region and the economic impact on the surrounding people and businesses. The report emphasizes how dramatically the demand for cloud computing has grown and how heavy capital investment in infrastructure, people, local vendors and more is needed to generate enough capacity to keep up.
Why Virginia?
Since its first investment in 2006, AWS has continued to increase its number of corporate buildings, facilities, and services in the area, driving it to become the “data center capital of the world”. It earns this title due to the volume of IT infrastructure, interconnectivity capabilities, the 50 AWS’ Northern Virginia data centers. and the strategic location near Washington D.C. Recent additions to the growing cloud environment is an AWS corporate office in Fairfax County and a newer Amazon headquarters in Arlington.
What’s in the report
The report makes several observations based on data collected via input-output multiplier methodology. The study quantifies the investment in key areas like data center construction and operation, employment, workforce development, education and community engagement, and renewable energy.
Findings
The findings conclude that these Virginia-based investments have produced considerable economic benefits in five ways:
- From 2011-2020, AWS invested $35 billion in Northern Virginia data centers across all functional sectors from specialized equipment, local labor, and materials construction, utilities, securities, and other operational needs.
- These investments in 2020 alone contributed $1.3 billion in GDP and supported over 13,500 jobs in the economy of Virginia. These jobs are often highly skilled as daily operations necessitate a “workforce of technicians and engineers to troubleshoot complex
infrastructure issues, maintenance specialists to ensure the continued operability of electrical and mechanical equipment, and security personnel.” - With 8,800+ full-time jobs, AWS is among the largest private-sector employers in the state. AWS hires data center technicians, engineers, solutions architects, sales representatives, account managers, software development engineers, and cloud experts.
- AWS is a considerable contributor to local taxes. For instance, in Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties, AWS paid over $220 million in business personal property taxes in 2020
- Amazon is bringing more renewable energy to the area. Next year, it plans to enable 15 utility-scale solar farms in the state.
Connection to Chemstar WATER
Chemstar WATER is proud to be one of the 100 local vendors AWS relies upon in the community, as well as a participant in the report. As a nationwide data center water treatment service provider, we know water is vital for data center cooling.
“Of the resources required to develop and run a data center, one resource is vital: Water,” Chemstar WATER President and CEO Cem Candir notes.
Our water treatment programs and sustainable solutions provide continuous water testing and analysis to allow hyperscaler cooling systems to operate at the highest possible cycles to deliver superior water usage effectiveness (WUE) and power water usage effectiveness (PUE). We assess water and energy usage to identify the most efficient methods and build programs to minimize environmental and community impact.
“AWS granted us our first entry into data centers. Our services have proven a good fit, and we have been fortunate to establish our name as a provider of 24-7 maintenance and care for mission-critical hyperscale centers,” shares Cem Candir.
Continue Reading
- To learn more about how we service data center providers see our Virginia-based case study.
- For more, check out our President and CEO, Cem Candir’s featured articles in Data Center Frontier. He speaks about the overall landscape, new treatment methods for data centers, and what Amazon and Microsoft are doing to meet the sustainability needs. You’ll also find tips for maintaining your data center and what is needed to prepare for the challenges ahead.
- Read the full AWS Economic Impact Report here: https://d1.awsstatic.com/WWPS/pdf/aws-economic-impact-virginia.pdf