MBC president updates members of IDA
The Halifax County Industrial Development Authority met Friday for their monthly meeting. Tad Deriso, president and CEO of Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities Corporation, was guest speaker.
“I’m sure everyone has seen the noisy construction,” Deriso said, referring to demolition work at the old Hailslip Dental Lab building on Wilborn Avenue. This location will be the home of the SOVA Innovation Hub that is being built by Mid-Atlantic Broadband. The Hub is due to open next fall.
MBC covers 26 counties with data centers. “We step in to build fiber networks” for rural communities that lack broadband internet access, he said.
MBC helps to promote economic growth in Halifax County several ways, Deriso said. One strategy is its “Invest in Virginia” initiative to bring more industry to Halifax County with access to advanced manufacturing sites and data center locations.
MBC’s fiber network offers direct connections to Europe and South America through the two subsea landing stations based in Virginia Beach. “It’s exciting and in the early days,” Deriso said, explaining how the fiber system is equipped for any major company to set up and plug directly into the ultra-high speed digital network.
In addition to creating a data center-ready network, MBC invests in data center site marketing. “We took the variety of requirements a business, like Facebook, would need from Dominion Energy to design our network,” said Deriso.