$65 million investment to create up to 3,500 jobs in Virginia
Reston - Governor Jim Gilmore today attended the grand opening ceremony in Fairfax County for Oracle Corporation's newest campus. Oracle invested $65 million in the project. Now complete, the first building of the campus occupies 210,000 square feet and can house up to 1,000 employees. Oracle announced that the entire campus, which has room for four buildings, can house up to 3,500 employees. In 1996, the company announced it would relocate its Government, Education & Health vertical organizations to Virginia.
"Virginia is proud to have a world leader in software development located right here in Fairfax County," Governor Gilmore said. "By moving its Government, Education & Health organization here and erecting this first of the planned four buildings on this new campus, Oracle is making a major commitment to Virginia. The opening of this innovative facility reinforces the fact that Virginia is becoming the nation's information technology leader."
Governor Gilmore also announced that Oracle and George Mason University will join together to create the Virginia High Technology Leadership Alliance. This organization will focus on how best to provide the trained, technology proficient workforce that the Commonwealth needs to remain the destination of choice for firms that are leading the digital revolution. It will also specifically address methods for advancing the technology base of Virginia's higher education system, to establish ours as the model for developing future generations of technology leaders.
Oracle Corporation, headquartered in Redwood Shores, California, is the world's leading supplier of software for information management, and the world's second largest independent software company. With annual revenues of more than $7.5 billion, the company offers its database, application server, tools, and application products, along with related consulting, education, and support services in more than 140 countries around the world. Reston-based Oracle Government, Education & Health is one of Oracle's largest vertical organizations, serving customers in federal, state and local governments; education; and the health industry.
"Virginia is the most economically advantageous location for our business because of its superior schools and higher education institutions," Jay Nussbaum, Executive Vice President of Oracle Government, Education & Health, said. "It also is convenient to Dulles Airport and is the epicenter of the technology industry for the East Coast. Our organization has been growing at the rate of more than 30 percent annually for the last several years, and we anticipate this expansion will continue. The Reston campus affords us ample space to accommodate our rapid growth."
"Virginia is poised to continue its growth in information technology," Secretary of Commerce and Trade Barry E. DuVal said. "We are pleased that Oracle has placed confidence in our universities and wealth of high-technology resources."
"We are excited that Oracle is continuing to expand here in Virginia," Secretary of Technology Don Upson said. "Their presence, along with the presence of thousands of technology companies throughout the Commonwealth, makes Virginia a world technology leader."
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked closely with officials from the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority to assist the company with its decision in 1996. The Virginia Department of Business Assistance is providing workforce training services to the company.
"The opening of Oracle Corporation's newest campus is a significant milestone for Reston and all of Fairfax County," Chairman of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority Patricia M. Woolsey said. "As one of the leading software companies in the world, Oracle's decision to locate its new building along the Dulles Corridor is evidence of Fairfax County's strength as a global center for information technology.
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