Next Gen Innovation

Welcome to the cutting edge of economic growth, in a community designed around innovation. Intergovernmental breakthroughs are fueling a tech boom, leading to more jobs, more commerce and more development.

Jefferson Lab marked a huge success, as the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) selected it to lead and house the new High Performance Data Facility Hub (HPDF). This $300-$500 million computing and data infrastructure resource is a first-of-its-kind, breakthrough facility that will provide unprecedented data management for research on a global scale. Jefferson Lab will serve as the East Coast hub, forming and leading a joint project team with DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.

Lab Director Stuart Henderson said, “The HPDF will be the world’s leading purpose-built facility for data-intensive scientific research, a new tool that will allow researchers to analyze the vast trove of cutting-edge research data.”

The award of the DOE’s HPDF program to Jefferson Lab leveraged decades of strategic partnering with the City, EDA and Commonwealth. This was most recently evidenced by the City and EDA’s donation of the Applied Research Center to the DOE in October.

The $18.4 million-Applied Research Center, built and funded by the City and EDA and completed in 1998, was originally developed to capitalize on research and development from Jefferson Lab and local universities. This building has provided wet and dry lab space supporting technology transfer and research for institutions including the Christopher Newport University, Hampton University, Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, and the College of William & Mary.

With the transfer of the Applied Research Center to the Department of Energy, the building will serve as a visitor and STEM education outreach center for the federal facility, and will continue its legacy supporting Jefferson Lab.

Science and technology of the future has long been a pillar of EDA work. Facilities like the Applied Research Center, Jefferson Lab and the HPDF hub not only diversify the City’s tax base and create high-paying jobs, but also solidify Newport News’ international prominence in subatomic physics. With this HPDF investment, Jefferson Lab’s mission will expand to include supercomputing, advancing breakthroughs in data analytics.

The adjacent Tech Center Research Park continues to garner attention in the corporate research and sciences world, as progress toward the 80,000- square-foot Building Two forged on in 2023. As the second of 10 planned office and lab buildings, Building Two will be the home of the Green Hydrogen Demonstration Lab collaboration. Lease interest remains strong with the imminent completion of the building.

Development of the Green Hydrogen Lab follows the announcement that $6.5 million in funds will be used to develop the 5,000- to 10,000-square-foot demonstration lab for the production of green hydrogen in Tech Center Research Park. The funding is a collaboration between Virginia Tech’s Corporate Research Center and Center for Economic and Community Engagement, and the Commonwealth’s GO Virginia grant program. The City and EDA provided application support, along with leveraging public infrastructure investment in the park, in concert with several other public and private sector partners.

The aim of this collaboration is the greater de-fossilization of our energy sources, through the production of green hydrogen in Tech Center’s Building Two. Green hydrogen is produced by splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable energy sources. 

Complementing the vision for the Tech Center Research Park, the EDA worked with the City and development partner W.M. Jordan to time the completion of the Tech Center Drillfield amenity and supporting infrastructure with the adjacent Tech Center Building Two. Virginia Tech’s Blacksburg Campus Drillfield served as the inspiration for this park-like feature designed to foster “creative collisions,” tenant gatherings and hosting entertainment for the community.