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Gov. Nixon Helps Celebrate Expansion of High-tech Firm in Kansas City's SubTropolis Business Complex(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., April 16 -- Gov. Jay Nixon, D-Mo., issued the following news release: Gov. Jay Nixon today joined Kansas City Mayor Sly James, other local elected officials, and members of the business community to celebrate the grand opening of LightEdge Solutions' regional office in the new SubTropolis Technology Center. The technology center is a mission-critical data center campus in SubTropolis, a 5-million-square foot underground business complex in northeast Kansas City owned and operated by Hunt Midwest. LightEdge Solutions, a leading premier cloud computing, collocation and consulting company, is the anchor tenant of the technology center. The company's expansion estimates include an investment of approximately $58 million and the creation of 21 new jobs. "The opening of LightEdge's new data center helps bolster Missouri's reputation as a technology hub, and is another win for Kansas City," Gov. Nixon said. "An experienced talent pool and low-cost business environment makes the Show-Me State the best destination for growing high-tech companies and creating in-demand jobs." Founded in 1996, LightEdge Solutions serves companies throughout the Midwest and the nation from its headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, and its five regional offices. LightEdge offers scalable and customized IT solutions that leverage a fully redundant network backbone and a team of experienced engineers. "Today's grand opening is a huge step forward for Kansas City's information technology industry," Mayor James said. "Data centers are an important component to the high tech economy and LightEdge's presence in Kansas City shows that we are doing the right things to be competitive in the economy of the future." SubTropolis Technology Center (STC) is located in Hunt Midwest's SubTropolis, the world's largest underground business complex, with more than 5 million square feet leased to over 50 international, national, regional and local companies that employ more than 1,600 people. The technology center, which also celebrated its grand opening today, is a mission-critical data center campus that provides a highly scalable infrastructure for millions of square feet of contiguous expansion; redundant power with low electricity costs; and fiber connectivity to meet the ever-growing bandwidth requirements of businesses. LightEdge's choice to locate in STC paves the way for future expansion and continued high-tech job growth in the Kansas City region. "This is the perfect strategic alliance that allows both companies to leverage their core expertise to deliver a world-class data center operation," said Ora Reynolds, president of Hunt Midwest Real Estate Development. "The relationship between LightEdge and Hunt Midwest translates into the convergence of financial strength, enterprise-grade hosted IT services, extensive experience in disaster recovery and production IT cloud environments, a highly secure and protected location, and low kW power costs compared to other areas of the U.S.," said Jim Masterson, chief executive officer of LightEdge Solutions. "These factors translate into a premier technology offering unlike any other in the Midwest." Missouri's robust technology industry and large pool of highly-skilled workers continue to attract investments from growing companies, and the state has had the fastest rate of technology job growth for the past two years. Recent significant expansions in Missouri by high-tech companies - including Netelligent in Chesterfield, Catalent Pharma Solutions in Kansas City, Cerner Corporation in Kansas City, Nanova Biomaterials in Columbia, Cofactor Genomics in St. Louis and MindMixer in Kansas City - have furthered Missouri's status as a technology powerhouse. To assist LightEdge Solutions with its expansion, the Missouri Department of Economic Development has offered a strategic economic incentive package that the company can receive if it meets strict job creation and investment criteria. Clay County and the City of Kansas City also partnered with LightEdge to make its expansion possible. TNS MkTanz140417-30furigayJane-4706276 30FurigayJane (c) 2014 Targeted News Service |