WeConnect Still Connecting Westerville 10 Years Later

More than 10 years ago, the City of Westerville set out to learn how to establish a publicly owned data center, quickly discovering at the time that no model existed. Rather than abandon an idea that appealed to the needs of the local business community and established a commitment to innovation, the City went to work creating a model. On March 1, 2012, the WēConnect® data center was dedicated as the nation’s first municipal data center.

Open for business since December 2011, the 16,000-square foot facility serves as a connectivity hub – a data hotel of sorts - for local and regional business. In the last 10 years, WēConnect has designed a series of managed technology services, including cloud computing, co-location, broadband services and server rack space and security. A carrier-neutral facility, the data center provides businesses of all sizes access to the most advanced technologies so that they can thrive at the local level but compete anywhere else in the world.

In addition to the data center, the City-owned infrastructure includes the fiber network around its perimeter. The combination of the center and the network act as another utility offered and controlled at the local level in Westerville.

“Data centers are much more common now, but the City’s ownership and management is what makes WēConnect truly novel,” said Brian Gorenflo, WēConnect Manager. “It’s an economic development tool. We can tell businesses their utilities and costs are managed here with a full suite of services that you would find anywhere in the world. It’s an advantage for business growth and security without increasing costs.”

Economic Development Director Rachel Ray says what businesses save in time and money gets reinvested into the community as a whole.

“In the 2010s, Westerville was having conversations about what was needed in order to be a world-class destination for business,” said Ray, “A community data center centralizes technology, services and security, and public infrastructure and support. WēConnect has put Westerville on a new plane to support jobs, enhance community quality of life, and attract new business investment as a critical part of our economic development strategy.”

Gorenflo says WēConnect will be a household name in Westerville in the future through public services and expanded business programs.

“Fiber-to-the-home is still being assessed for distribution to Westerville residents, which would pair Internet choice with Westerville reliability,” said Gorenflo. “We’re working with other communities and expanding our business portfolio, and planning on redevelopment to become a space where people can meet, work, shop and plan.”

For more information, or to learn how WēConnect can meet your technology needs, visit www.weconnectdatacenter.com.

NOTABLE PROJECTS

FTTX project: Fiber to Small Businesses Faster wireless upload/download speed of up to 1Gbps (Gigabits per second).

Completed Areas East side of Uptown Westerville, E. College Avenue and Israel Street

Future Areas West side of Uptown, Commerce Park Drive and Westar

Fiber Expansion Business access to the data center for Internet, their (business) rack or direct paths to cloud providers.

Completed Areas 501 W. Schrock Rd., 4151 & 4079 Executive Parkway, 405/435 Polaris Parkway, Wetherby Lane/Charring Cross and 400 Altair

Since 2019, WēConnect has focused on improving connectivity for our business community and targeted builds to business districts that previously were underserved as well as ensuring any new buildings have access to WēConnect.