Technology leader iGATE recently announced plans to invest more than $1 million to establish a new facility in Loudoun County, bringing 250 new jobs to the area over the next few years.

The location in Loudoun County will allow iGATE to further the expansion of its technology consulting services into the U.S. market, particularly with nearby Washington D.C. government agencies and businesses.

Close proximity to the Washington Dulles International Airport was a key advantage, giving a global company like iGATE access to 80 percent of the world’s economies.

The ability to draw upon a highly-skilled, tech-savvy workforce also factored into Virginia’s favor. Due to the consultative nature of the company’s custom technology products, human capital is a critical driver of the company’s success.

Fortunately the Commonwealth has the employee pool to match companies’ workforce needs, with the highest concentration of high-tech workers according to Cyberstates 2011. Companies are taking notice of Virginia’s world-class employee base. Professional, scientific and technical services—a category dependent on a quality workforce—was the top sector for job creation in Virginia last year, announcing almost 13,000 new jobs in 2011.

iGATE Chief Delivery Officer Sean Narayanan recognized the many attributes Virginia offers companies, stating, “We have been impressed with the business and government leaders in Virginia, the high caliber of the workforce, the excellent quality of life, and we look forward to positive, long-term growth and involvement in this area.”

To learn more about Virginia’s unique combination of assets and why companies have been prospering here for more than 400 years, click here.

Congratulations to Loudoun County for winning another expansion from data center provider, Digital Realty. The company officially broke ground on its fourth building in what’s known as “Data Center Alley” in Loudoun County, Va.

The two-story, 214,000-square-foot building will house 10 data centers and bring an $80 million investment along with 180 temporary positions and 12 full-time jobs to the area. With more than 50 percent of the world’s internet traffic flowing through Loudoun County each day, the region certainly has become a hub for leading data center operations. Add to that an energy rate 28 percent below the national average and 10 million square feet of data center capacity, and one can easily see why data centers are flocking to Virginia.

Data processing was actually the dominant sector across the Commonwealth in 2011, accounting for more than $960 million in capital investment and almost half of the nonmanufacturing investment. Virginia is poised to continue its growth in the sector as it has both the highest concentration of high-tech workers in the nation and the advanced telecom infrastructure across the Commonwealth to support the industry.

Virginia data centers claimed three of the top 10 spots in Southern Business & Development’s 2011 Ten Best Data Center Sites in the South list. In addition, Bristol, Va., was touted in the study Broadband at the Speed of Light as one of the first municipalities in the nation to build a citywide Fiber-To-The-Home network.

To learn why leading companies have invested more than $4.4 billion in Virginia data centers over the last ten years, click here.

State, local and company officials celebrated the opening of Digital Realty’s newest building at the groundbreaking ceremony in Loudoun County.