Google Confirms $1.2 Billion Loudoun Investment, STEM Education Grants

By June 11, 2019June 17th, 2019Blog, Data Centers, Featured, ICT
Fourth-grader Ashley Green of Pinebrook Elementary School in Aldie is the winner of the Doodle for Google art contest for the state of Virginia. Her doodle is titled "Lost in Space." (Courtesy Google)
Loudoun fourth-grader Ashley Green of Pinebrook Elementary School in Aldie was the winner of the Doodle for Google art contest for the state of Virginia. Her doodle is titled “Lost in Space.” (Courtesy Google)

 

Earlier this year, Google announced a $13 billion investment in data centers and offices across the U.S.

Google confirmed that it will spend $600 million to develop sites in the Arcola Center development and Stonewall Business Park, bringing the company’s total investment in the state to $1.2 billion to date.

“As we get our operations underway in Loudoun County, we’re starting to get to know the community better and are proud to support two organizations doing great work to support students, schools and nonprofits across the county: The Loudoun Education Foundation and the Community Foundation of Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties,” said Kelley Edwards, an Operations Manager who will oversee the two new data centers. “We look forward to deepening our roots here as our facilities come online and our teams are hired.”

Google awarded two grants to the Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties and the Loudoun Education Foundation as a capstone to a $1.2 billion investment in Loudoun County.

The grants will support STEM programs in the area and will help local nonprofits gain much-needed access to resources and funding.

“Our focus in Loudoun is accelerating community giving,” explained Community Foundation Board Chair Tracey White. “Google’s gift will be used to help strengthen the long-term resources within the local nonprofit community as well as fuel our direct services and the programming that supports their leadership.”

“While we are very appreciative of Google’s commercial investment in Loudoun, we’re even more excited about the way they have invested in our community. From the day we first started working with them their Loudoun campuses, their leadership has shown time and time again that they want to be a good neighbor, a good partner and contributing member of Loudoun County,” said Loudoun Economic Development Executive Director Buddy Rizer. “It’s incredibly rewarding for me to watch companies like Google fully engage in giving back to the
communities where they work.”

The Loudoun Education Foundation has long been a partner to Loudoun County Public Schools, identifying programs and school initiatives that are most in need of funding.

Google’s grant will support STEM programs, teacher training and grants for classroom materials, and special programs like the LEF-LCPS Backpack Coalition, which feeds 850 students and their families each week during the school year.

“We are incredibly grateful for Google’s generosity and commitment to the success of the students and teachers in Loudoun County Public Schools. Their recent grant will allow the Loudoun Education Foundation to support both innovative and critical programs across the County,” said Samantha Courtney, the Loudoun Education Foundation’s Director of Development. “We are looking forward to welcoming Google to our community and building our partnership in the years to come.”

“Google is making historic capital investments in Loudoun County, and these grants to the Community Foundation and the Loudoun Education Foundation demonstrate the company’s long-term commitment to the region and its citizens,” said VEDP President and CEO Stephen Moret. “STEM education at the K-12 level is critical to help create innovators of the future as well as to develop a robust tech talent pipeline with the 21st-century skills to serve high-tech employers across the Commonwealth for decades to come.

“Google is an exemplary corporate citizen, and VEDP looks forward to a continued partnership as the company expands its presence in Virginia.”