Microsoft Corporation’s Expanding Virginia Footprint

In 2002, Microsoft Corporation, one of the largest and most influential companies in the world, selected Fairfax County as the location for its Microsoft Innovation & Technology Conference Center, representing the global tech company’s first facility in Virginia. 

Thus began Microsoft’s long-term partnership with the Commonwealth.

A Competitive, Connected Commonwealth

In 2004, the Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative (MBC) was established to solve the rural telecommunications infrastructure challenge, eventually building over 1,900 route miles of fiber in southern Virginia, providing affordable infrastructure and carrier-class broadband connectivity to drive economic growth. This access to high-capacity, diverse fiber routes to major carrier interconnection points in the eastern United States, as well as an ability to meet growing energy demands, landed Virginia on Microsoft’s short list in 2010.

Mecklenburg Matters

In 2010, Microsoft announced plans to invest up to $499 million to establish its latest generation data center in Mecklenburg County, creating 50 new jobs. The project represented the largest economic investment in Southern Virginia history and a shift to major tech companies locating operations to rural areas.

Mecklenburg County has been a good home for Microsoft, and we’re committed to supporting the community through local partnerships to help deliver economic, social, and environmental benefits such as expanding access to high-speed broadband services and supporting skills training for positions in the information technology industry.

Noelle Walsh, President, Cloud Operations + Innovation, Microsoft Corp.

Since then, Microsoft has expanded the Mecklenburg operation six times, most recently in 2019, to serve its rapidly growing customer base. The company established two additional facilities, increased cloud capacity, and created more than 350 jobs combined. Microsoft’s corporate presence in Mecklenburg has also expanded access to high-speed broadband services and supported skills training for IT positions.

Microsoft’s Virginia Presence Grows

Nearly 20 years after the company’s first investment in the Commonwealth and with thriving operations across Virginia, the company again looked to the Commonwealth. In 2020, Microsoft committed to investing $64 million to establish a state-of-the-art software development and R&D regional hub at Reston Town Center in Fairfax County, creating 1,500 new jobs.

Additionally, Microsoft announced their intention to further expand its data center footprint in Mecklenburg in 2026.

Microsoft’s decades-long investment in the Commonwealth is a powerful success story for Virginia’s visionary planning, world-class IT infrastructure, and skilled workforce, further establishing the area as a renowned high-tech hub.