Northern Virginia Tech Council Names Finalists for 2020 Data Center Awards

The Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) has announced the finalists for the second annual Virginia Data Center Awards. The finalists represent excellence in the areas of sustainability, construction, advocacy and community engagement, and support.

I was honored to be one of the judges for these awards, which showcase the expertise and dedication of the region’s data center sector, along with David Liggett (datacenterHawk), Dr. Chad Knights (Northern Virginia Community College) and James Leach (Chair, NVTC Data Center and Cloud Committee).

The awards recognize the significant impact of the data center sector and its leaders on communities in Northern Virginia. According to NVTC’s 2020 Impact of Data Centers report, in 2018 the data center industry provided 14,644 full-time-equivalent jobs in Virginia with an average annual pay of $126,000, as well as more than $600 million in tax revenue

“The data center industry is extremely important to not only the tech community but to the entire Commonwealth,” said Brad Schwartz, Acting President and CEO of NVTC. “The economic multiplier effect that comes from being the marker leader is far-reaching in terms of high paying jobs and tax revenue generated. NVTC is proud to recognize these finalists for their remarkable achievement as well as their contributions to the overall success of the region.”

Winners in the following six categories will be announced later this fall at a virtual event. Here’s a look at the finalists:

2020 Greater Washington Technology CFO Awards Finalists

Data Center Community Champion

• Amazon Web Services Girls’ Tech Day
• Nancy Novak, Chief Innovation Officer, Compass Datacenters
• CyrusOne Community Volunteers
• Greg Adgate, Vice President of Global Partnerships & Alliances, Equinix
• TJ Ciccone, Vice President of Data Center Operations, STACK INFRASTRUCTURE, Adjunct Professor, Northern Virginia Community College

Data Center Construction Project

• Aligned
• CloudHQ
• CyrusOne / HITT Contracting
• Digital Realty / HITT Contracting
• Vantage Data Centers

Data Center Industry Icon

• Michael Mosman, Chief Technical Officer, Morrison Hershfield
• Lee Kestler, Chief Commercial Officer, Vantage Data Centers

Data Center Supplier Champion

• Verity Commercial, LLC

Data Center Sustainable Champion

• Erich Sanchack. Executive Vice President, Operations, Digital Realty
• Detlev Guess, Regional Vice President, IBX Operations East, Equinix, Inc.
• Google

Data Center Veterans Champion

• Nick Curry, Senior Program Manager, Military Initiatives, Amazon Web Services
• Dan Fulcoly, General Manager, QTS Federal, QTS Data Centers

Here’s a video overview of the finalists. Enjoy!