Wake up

Among the more intriguing developments that came out of Gov. Brian Sandoval's Jan. 15 State of the State speech was that Switch, a Las Vegas technology company, will be building a 3 million square-foot data center, called a “Supernap,” in Northern Nevada. It's expected to include a $1 billion investment and a fiber optic network that will connect Reno, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. It will certainly add to Reno's economic diversity, although judging from the leadership page on its website, www.supernap.com/management-team.html, ethnic diversity is not at risk.

Despite the narcoleptic name, on the face of it, it's a pretty exciting development, although as with several of the recent technology announcements, the devil will likely be in the details—which have yet to be announced. ABC News reported that “Steve Hill, director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, said the deal still has to be approved by Storey County and the state's economic development board but would include a reduction of sales tax to 2 percent as well as a 75 percent reduction in personal property taxes for 15 years.”

A message left with the Switch switchboard to get statistics on potential job numbers and other facts regarding the site and construction was not returned.