The Bucks County Board of Commissioners announced the conclusion of the first phase of $2 million in direct financing and loan guarantees by its Bucks County Industrial Development Authority (IDA) to support nearly $20 million in private funding of Keystone NAP, the first advanced data center in the Northeast United States capable of meeting the needs of today’s web-scale enterprises.
From its secure site at the Keystone Industrial Port Complex (KIPC), Keystone NAP will address the underserved Mid-Atlantic market with a unique multi-tenant co-location offering that combines robust power and communications infrastructure with advanced network management, data center migration and application optimization services.
The company was founded by a veteran team of IT executives and is built for customers that rely heavily on network-based applications, as well as those companies delivering cloud-based solutions. The KIPC site also offers multi-layered site security and contains massive capacity for future growth.
“Keystone NAP will bridge a crucial technology gap on the East Coast,” said Robert G. Loughery, Chairman of the Bucks County Commissioners. “This investment of $2 million in public funds will not only leverage nearly $20 million in private funding, but will light up the entire KIPC complex and beyond with the unparalleled network connectivity of an advanced data center,” he added.
Keystone NAP is offering web-scale infrastructure and first-class network and application services to businesses located within the KIPC and surrounding areas, a major component of the County’s willingness to invest in this effort. “We will make network services available at commercially reasonable rates. It is Keystone NAP’s objective to be a ‘good neighbor’ to the other businesses located within the KIPC,” said John Parker, President of Keystone NAP. “We will also provide customers with diversity and choice by supporting many different network connectivity vendors such as Sunesys, Comcast, Lightower Fiber Networks, Level 3, Zayo and Verizon,” he concluded.
“Keystone NAP is expected create more than 100 high wage/high skill jobs over the next three years, along with roughly the same amount of construction jobs over that same period,” Commissioner Loughery stated. “But the greatest potential for job creation will be through this transformative technology’s impact on the KIPC and Lower Bucks County, through the start-up, expansion and substantial increase in productivity for businesses made possible by this exponential leap frog in technology modernization,” he concluded.
The Commissioners went on to recognize the important role the Board of the BCIDA played in bringing this project to fruition. Commissioner Loughery took special note of the use of the recently established “Loan Guaranty Program” as a critical and creative tool in leveraging significant private lender financing, without which this project could not have moved forward; thanking BCIDA Chairman Mary Smithson and the members of her Board for their forward-thinking in inaugurating this new program initiative.
About Keystone NAP
Keystone NAP is the only advanced data center in the Northeast to combine extreme power durability and comprehensive connectivity with the multi-tenant data center services, security, and capacity that today’s web-scale enterprises require. Built on the site of a former steel mill in Fairless Hills, PA, Keystone NAP has an inherited power infrastructure capable of supporting virtually unlimited expansion, and a diverse telecommunications architecture with connections to many major peering points via nearly 151,000 route miles of fiber. A cut above the traditional data center, Keystone NAP also offers enterprise-class services for optimizing and continually managing network connectivity to ensure the highest application performance possible. Safe from the hazards of an urban environment, but also convenient to several major cities, Keystone NAP answers a critical market need for advanced data center services on the east coast. For more information, please visit www.KeystoneNAP.com or call 1-844-KEYBLOCK (539-2562).
About Bucks County Board of Commissioners
The Board of Bucks County Commissioners is comprised of three commissioners, who are elected to four-year terms. The commissioners are responsible for the adoption and administration of the county operating budget ($394 million in 2015), along with oversight of one of the largest workforce in the county (more than 2,300 employees). Commissioners’ departments include Community Services (Board of Elections, Planning Commission, Housing and Community Development, Consumer Protection, Military Affairs), Health Services (Health Department and Neshaminy Manor Long Term Care Nursing Facility), Human Services (Area Agency on Aging, Children and Youth, MH/DP), Corrections, Emergency Services (Emergency Management Agency, Emergency Communications, Emergency Health Services, Fire Marshal, Police Training, and Security), Finance and Administration (Finance, Board of Assessment, Purchasing, Tax Claim and Information Technology), General Services (Public Works, County Properties, Roads and Bridges and Capital Projects), Human Resources, Public Information, and Solicitors.